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Microwave Imaging System for Non-Metallics Inspection in the Oil and Gas Industry
Abu Laila, Mohammad
Abu Laila, Mohammad
Date
2021-09
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Type
Thesis
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Description
A Master of Science thesis in Electrical Engineering by Mohammad Abu Laila entitled, “Microwave Imaging System for Non-Metallics Inspection in the Oil and Gas Industry”, submitted in September 2021. Thesis advisor is Dr. Nasser Qaddoumi and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Amer Zakaria. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).
Abstract
The increased demand for energy in the modern industrialized world pushed towards the search for suitable alternatives to existing technologies and materials used in the oil and gas industry. The use of non-metallics components in the oil and gas industry has grown in popularity in recent years for their durability and light-weightiness. These components may fail in many predictable and unpredictable ways in-service or due to manufacturing errors. Since these components are being used for sensitive applications, there is an increasing demand for suitable and accurate inspection and evaluation techniques of such components. Many non-destructive testing techniques have been developed in the past. However, such techniques suffer from significant limitations, including low image quality, slow response, and physical bulkiness. One of the most reliable and well-tested methods is the near-field microwave scanning system, using various near-field electromagnetic probes, e.g., rectangular and circular waveguides. This thesis proposes the enhancements of the imaging capabilities of rectangular waveguides microwave systems using deconvolution methods involving a function called the point spread function. The electric and magnetic field distributions are derived and solved in the near-field region of rectangular waveguides to derive the point spread function. In addition, formulas for the scattered electric and magnetic fields are derived and simplified. These results are used to derive a formula for the point spread function analytically. The point spread function is used for the deconvolution process on scanned images from a microwave scanning system. This process is tested on various simulations and reproductions of real-world defects. The deconvolution process is found to increase the accuracy of the reconstructed images compared to the actual defects. In addition, there are very noticeable improvements in the resolution of imaging systems, increasing their ability to distinguish closely-spaced defects.