INFRASTRUCTURE DEFECT DETECTION
Muon imaging has been shown to be applicable to a wide range of problems, providing imaging solutions for extremely large or dense targets. Below are just a few examples of industrial sectors the Geoptic team have experience developing muon systems and cosmic ray imaging services for.
RAILWAY APPLICATIONS
Recently we have demonstrated that our novel imaging technique can be used to infer the overburden above railway tunnels in a much shorter space of time than other cosmic ray imaging methods. This makes the technique applicable to a number of problems in the rail industry where imaging time is severely restricted by available track possession time.
IN-SITU CONSTRUCTION IMAGING
Since muons can image the internal structure of objects non-intrusively from a distance their application is not just limited to already built infrastructure. Muons have the potential to survey construction sites, before, during, and after works have taken place, allowing engineers to assess progress dynamically and in-situ.
MINING EXPLORATION SURVEY
Cosmic rays are so highly penetrating that they have been measured even in the deepest of mines. This makes the technique suitable for density mapping even very deep or large underground structures, provided long exposures of many months can be taken. Our own Geoptic team has experience developing small muon telescopes suitable for deployment down boreholes for the imaging of carbon capture and storage campaigns many kilometres underground.
NUCLEAR WASTE VERIFICATION
It is possible to use muons to non-invasively image the contents of small or large nuclear waste drums without exposing operators to unnecessary harmful radiation. The presence of hazardous substances such as Uranium results in large scattering “hotspots” inside a waste drum which are easily identifiable by a muon tomography telescope. The Geoptic team has several years experience developing muon tomography detectors for the nuclear security and safeguarding sector.
Think cosmic ray imaging could be applied to your sector?