Microwave probe for furnace refractory material

摘要

Disclosed is a system and method to aid in these inspections that avoid the disadvantages of the prior art. The system and method are operative to take thickness measurements of, and thus evaluate the condition of, materials including but not limited to refractory materials, operating in frequency bands that result in less loss than previously known technologies, and utilizing a system configuration and signal processing techniques that isolate the reflected signal of interest from other spurious antenna reflections, particularly by creating (through the configuration of the antenna assembly) a time delay between such spurious reflections and the actual reflected signal of interest, thus enabling better isolation of the signal of interest. Still further, the antenna assembly is intrinsically matched to the material to be probed, such as by impedance matching the antenna to the particular material (through knowledge of the dielectric and magnetic properties of the material to be evaluated) to even further suppress spurious reflections.

主权项

1. A method for evaluating a condition of a remote surface of a material, comprising the steps of:
providing a wide band coherent radar antenna that is selected based upon an impedance match with the material to be evaluated, wherein said antenna is provided a physical configuration adapted to delay receipt of a signal of interest reflected from said remote surface of said material by a time period sufficient to distinguish between said reflected signal of interest and reflected spurious signals from a near surface of said material; placing said antenna adjacent said near surface of said material; irradiating said material with coherent microwave radiation tuned over a frequency range; detecting reflected microwave radiation from said remote surface of said material; and determining a thickness of the material based upon a determined distance traveled by said signal of interest.