Optimization of sensor deployment sequences for hazardous gas leakage monitoring and source term estimation

Nowadays, chemical safety has attracted considerable attention, and chemical gas leakage monitoring and source term estimation(STE) have become hot spots. However, few studies have focused on sensor layouts in scenarios with multiple potential leakage sources and wind conditions, and studies on the risk information(RI) detection and prioritization order of sensors have not been performed. In this work, the monitoring area of a chemical factory is divided into multiple rectangles with a uniform mesh. The RI value of each grid node is calculated on the basis of the occurrence probability and normalized concentrations of each leakage scenario. A high RI value indicates that a sensor at a grid node has a high chance of detecting gas concentrations in different leakage scenarios. This situation is beneficial for leakage monitoring and STE. The methods of similarity redundancy detection and the maximization of sensor RI detection are applied to determine the sequence of sensor locations. This study reveals that the RI detection of the optimal sensor layout with eight sensors exceeds that of the typical layout with 12 sensors. In addition, STE with the optimized placement sequence of the sensor layout is numerically simulated. The statistical results of each scenario with various numbers of sensors reveal that STE is affected by sensor number and scenarios(leakage locations and winds). In most scenarios, appropriate STE results can be retained under the optimal sensor layout even with four sensors. Eight or more sensors are advised to improve the performance of STE in all scenarios. Moreover, the reliability of the STE results in each scenario can be known in advance with a specific number of sensors. Such information thus provides a reference for emergency rescue.

A Simple Method for Source Depth Estimation with Multi-path Time Delay in Deep Ocean

A method of source depth estimation based on the multi-path time delay difference is proposed. When the minimum time arrivals in all receiver depths are snapped to a certain time on time delay-depth plane, time delay arrivals of surface-bottom reflection and bottom-surface reflection intersect at the source depth. Two hydrophones deployed vertically with a certain interval are required at least. If the receiver depths are known, the pair of time delays can be used to estimate the source depth. With the proposed method the source depth can be estimated successfully in a moderate range in the deep ocean without complicated matched-field calculations in the simulations and experiments.

A new source number estimation method based on the beam eigenvalue

Most source number estimation methods based on the eigenvalues are decomposed by covariance matrix in MUSIC algorithm. To develop the source number estimation method which has lower signal to noise ratio and is suitable to both correlated and uncorrelated impinging signals, a new source number estimation method called beam eigenvalue method (BEM) is proposed in this paper. Through analyzing the space power spectrum and the correlation of the line array, the covariance matrix is constructed in a new way, which is decided by the line array shape when the signal frequency is given. Both of the theory analysis and the simulation results show that the BEM method can estimate the source number for correlated signals and can be more effective at lower signal to noise ratios than the normal source number estimation methods.

Gas emission source term estimation with 1-step nonlinear partial swarm optimization-Tikhonov regularization hybrid method

Source term identification is very important for the contaminant gas emission event. Thus, it is necessary to study the source parameter estimation method with high computation efficiency, high estimation accuracy and reasonable confidence interval. Tikhonov regularization method is a potential good tool to identify the source parameters. However, it is invalid for nonlinear inverse problem like gas emission process. 2-step nonlinear and linear PSO （partial swarm optimization）-Tikhonov regularization method proposed previously have estimated the emission source parameters successfully. But there are still some problems in computation efficiency and confidence interval. Hence, a new 1-step nonlinear method combined Tikhonov regularizafion and PSO algorithm with nonlinear forward dispersion model was proposed. First, the method was tested with simulation and experiment cases. The test results showed that 1-step nonlinear hybrid method is able to estimate multiple source parameters with reasonable confidence interval. Then, the estimation performances of different methods were compared with different cases. The estimation values with 1-step nonlinear method were close to that with 2-step nonlinear and linear PSO-Tikhonov regularization method, 1-step nonlinear method even performs better than other two methods in some cases, especially for source strength and downwind distance estimation. Compared with 2-step nonlinear method, 1-step method has higher computation efficiency. On the other hand, the confidence intervals with the method proposed in this paper seem more reasonable than that with other two methods. Finally, single PSO algorithm was compared with 1-step nonlinear PSO-Tikhonov hybrid regularization method. The results showed that the skill scores of 1-step nonlinear hybrid method to estimate source parameters were close to that of single PSO method and even better in some cases. One more important property of 1-step nonlinear PSO-Tikhonov regularization method is its reasonable confidence interval, which is not obtained by single PSO algorithm. Therefore, 1-step nonlinear hybrid regularization method proposed in this paper is a potential good method to estimate contaminant gas emission source term.

Fast algorithm for coherent source number estimation

In order to estimate the number of coherent sources, a Hankel matrix with the size of half the number of the received arrays is constructed using snapshot data of observed vectors. And the rank of the Hankel matrix is only related with the number of signal sources, no matter the signals are uncorrelated or coherent. We can get the signal and noise eigenvalues by conducting the singular value decomposition （SVD） to the Hankel matrix, the source number can be obtained by calculating the maximum ratio of each eigenvalue pair. The complexity of the algorithm is reduced greatly as only part of the observed data （single snapshot） is used. The Monte-Carlo simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of the algorithm.

Source Range Estimation Based on Pulse Waveform Matching in a Slope Environment

An approach of source range estimation in an ocean environment with sloping bottom is presented. The approach is based on pulse waveform correlation matching between the received and simulated signals. An acoustic prop- agation experiment is carried out in a slope environment. The pulse signal is received by the vertical line array, and the depth structure can be obtained. For the experimental data, the depth structures of pulse waveforms are different, which depends on the source range. For a source with unknown range, the depth structure of pulse waveform can be first obtained from the experimental data. Next, the depth structures of pulse waveforms in dif- ferent ranges are numerically calculated. After the process of correlating the experimental and simulated signals, the range corresponding to the maximum value of the correlation coefficient is the estimated source range. For the explosive sources in the experiment with two depths, the mean relative errors of range estimation are both less than 7%.

Inverse Source Locating Method Based on Graphical Analysis of Dye Plume Images in a Turbulent Flow

The inverse estimation of a source location of pollutant released into a turbulent flow is a probability problem instead of a deterministic one, as the turbulent flow is chaotic and irreversible. However, researches can be conducted to provide helpful instructions to the possible source location with corresponding uncertainty. This study aims to propose a method of inverse estimation of a passive-scalar source location. Experimental investigation of the dye plume characteristics released into a fully-developed turbulent flow is performed in a water channel. A planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique is used to obtain two-dimensional images of spreading dye plumes at a bulk Reynolds number of 20,000. The distributions of high concentration areas in the PLIF images are chosen as features that characterize the traveling (diffusion) distance or time from the dye source. Graphical analysis is used to extract these high concentration areas. The procedure of graphical analysis has three steps: 1) binarization using a threshold to extract high concentration dye patches;2) labeling individual high-concentration dye patches in the binarized images;and 3) pixel-counting to measure the area and perimeter of each dye patch. We examine the variations of fractal dimension of patches, and the fractal dimension is observed to be almost constant irrespective of the distance from the source. The kurtosis of the probability density function curve of the logarithm dimensionless dye patch areas is found to be related with the downstream diffusion distance, based on which an inverse estimation method to locate a passive-scalar point source is proposed and evaluated.

Improved seismoacoustic analysis model and its application to source parameter inversion of near-surface small-yield chemical explosions

The seismoacoustic analysis method has broad potential applications to source parameter estimation for near-surface explosion events such as industrial explosions and terrorist attacks.In this study,current models were improved by modifying the acoustic model and adopting the Bayesian Markov-chain-Monte-Carlo inversion method.The source parameters of near-surface small-yield chemical explosions were analyzed via the improved seismoacoustic analysis model and by the estimation accuracy of seismoacoustic joint inversion.Estimation and analysis results showed that the improved seismoacoustic analysis model considered ground shock coupling and the impact of explosion products ejecting from the surface so that the improved acoustic impulse relation was more consistent with the measured data than the Ford impulse relation.It is suitable for deep-burial,shallow-burial,and near-surface aerial explosions.Furthermore,trade-off relationships were declined through the application of the improved model to source parameter inversion for near-surface small-yield chemical explosions,and source parameter estimation accuracy was improved.

Study on the Shear Effect on Dye Patches Diffused in Wall-Bounded Shear Flow

This paper focuses on the high intensity filaments (dye patches) embedded in dye plumes in a wall-bounded shear flow, to investigate the shear effect on the dye patch distribution. Motivated by the widely concerned inverse estimation of the source location, we try extracting useful information to know the source location from down-stream dye patches. Accordingly, we changed the dye injection location at different distances from the wall and made observations at different downstream (diffusion) distances from the source. The orientation angle and roundness of dye patches were concerned to examine the shear effect and dye patch characteristics. To capture the dye plume images, a planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique was used. The orientation and roundness of each dye patch were calculated by least-square fitting. The statistics of both the orientation angle and the roundness were compared with those in homogeneous turbulent cases to reveal the shear effect. Different from uniformly-orientated dye patches in the homogeneous flow, larger occurrence probabilities with positive orientation angles of dye patches are observed in wall-bounded shear flow, in particular, when the injection location is near the wall. As with information extraction for the inverse estimation of source location, it is found that the orientation distribution of dye patches is independent of the diffusion distance, but related with the injection location from the wall. While for the homogeneous flow cases, a strong dependence on the diffusion distance is observed in the orientation distribution profiles. As for the roundness, similar aspects are found regarding the dependencies on the injection location in shear flow and on diffusion distance in homogeneous flow.

Passive source range estimation with a single receiver in shallow water

An approach for long-range passive impulsive source ranging with a single receiver in shallow water is proposed, which utilizes the frequency spectrum of the warped signal autocor- relation function via warping transform. For an ideal waveguide, there are invariable frequency features both in the frequency spectrum of the warped signal corresponding to modal cut-off frequencies and the warped signal autocorrelation function due to modal interference. These intrinsic frequency features can be used to passive source ranging. So, the approximate rela- tionship between the frequency of warped signal at an unknown source range and the intrinsic frequency extracted by the time warping transform is derived. These rules can be generalized to an actual shallow water waveguide. Employing an acoustic model to offer the invariable frequency spectrum features, the impulsive signal data collected by a single hydrophone in the North Yellow Sea in December 2011 are analyzed to verify the proposed source ranging ap- proach. The estimated ranges are in good agreement with the ranges measured by GPS, and the mean relative error of range estimation is less than 10%.

Target localization and parameters estimation by sonar system with explosions as underwater sound sources

Underwater target localization and parameters(azimuth and range) estimation by the method of utilizing explosions as underwater sound sources are described in this paper.The narrow beam reverberation model of the target echo signal is researched to estimate the target azimuth in reverberation background.Estimation errors of target azimuth and range are studied and proved to approximately meet Gauss distribution.Then the variance formula of target range error is deduced.Simulation experiments are applied to research the target range error and its standard deviation,and a series of measures to improve the estimation accuracy of target range are proposed.It is confirmed by the data processing results of simulations and lake experiments that the proposed method can accurately locate underwater target at a long distance on the condition of a certain underwater explosion range error.

AUV Based Source Seeking with Estimated Gradients

This paper addresses the source seeking problems for an autonomous underwater vehicle（AUV） with the estimated gradients. The AUV is embedded with multiple sensors, which are only able to detect the signal strengths of the source with unknown distribution. To resolve this challenge,a sensor configuration is explicitly designed as a semicircle to estimate gradients of the signal field.Then, a controller is obtained via the estimated gradients to drive the AUV to approach the source.Moreover, an upper bound for the localization error is provided in terms of the radius of the semicircle and the signal distribution. Finally, the authors include a simulation example by applying the strategy to a Remote Environmental Monitoring Unit S（REMUS） for seeking the deepest point of a region of seabed in the South China Sea.

Source localization using a non-cocentered orthogonal loop and dipole (NCOLD) array

A uniform array of scalar-sensors with intersensor spacings over a large aperture size generally offers enhanced resolution and source localization accuracy,but it may also lead to cyclic ambiguity.By exploiting the polarization information of impinging waves,an electromagnetic vector-sensor array outperforms the unpolarized scalar-sensor array in resolving this cyclic ambiguity.However,the electromagnetic vector-sensor array usually consists of cocentered orthogonal loops and dipoles（COLD）,which is easily subjected to mutual coupling across these cocentered dipoles/loops.As a result,the source localization performance of the COLD array may substantially degrade rather than being improved.This paper proposes a new source localization method with a non-cocentered orthogonal loop and dipole（NCOLD）array.The NCOLD array contains only one dipole or loop on each array grid,and the intersensor spacings are larger than a half-wavelength.Therefore,unlike the COLD array,these well separated dipoles/loops minimize the mutual coupling effects and extend the spatial aperture as well.With the NCOLD array,the proposed method can effciently exploit the polarization information to offer high localization precision.

Scanning paths for estimating sound power of noise sources by sound intensity scanning method

A mathematical model of deterndulng sound power by using the scanning method is developed. It is assumed that the scanning speed is constant and the noise source is stationary The accuracy of estimating sound power along some simple paths on the surfaces such as rectangle, disc and hemisphere is analyzed. It is argued that the accuracy of estimating sound power is strongly depended on a suitable selection of scan path. The accurate estdriation of sound power can be made by scanning along some simple paths.

Key emergency response technologies for abrupt air pollution accidents in China

Abrupt air pollution accidents can endanger people’s health and destroy the local ecological environment.The appropriate emergency response can minimize the harmful effects of accidents and protect people’s lives and property.This paper provides an overview of the key emergency response technologies for abrupt air pollution accidents around the globe with emphasis on the major achievements that China has obtained in recent years.With decades of effort,China has made significant progress in emergency monitoring technologies and equipment,source estimation technologies,pollutant dispersion simulation technologies and others.Many effective domestic emergency monitoring instruments(e.g.,portable DOAS/FT-IR systems,portable FID/PID systems,portable GC-MS systems,scanning imaging remote sensing systems,and emergency monitoring vehicles)had been developed which can meet the demands for routine emergency response activities.A monitoring layout technique combining air dispersion simulation,fuzzy comprehensive evaluation,and a post-optimality analysis was proposed to identify the optimal monitoring layout scheme under the constraints of limited monitoring resources.Multiple source estimation technologies,including the forward method and the inversion method,have been established and evaluated under various scenarios.Multi-scale dynamic pollution dispersion simulation systems with high temporal and spatial resolution were further developed.A comprehensive emergency response platform integrating database support,source estimation,monitoring schemes,fast monitoring of pollutants,pollution predictions and risk assessment was developed based on the technical idea of"source identification-model simulation-environmental monitoring"dynamic interactive feedback.It is expected that the emergency response capability for abrupt air pollution accidents will gradually improve in China.