Quality Assurance of Buried Structures Using Diamond-Based Vector Magnetometry
PROJECT COST:
PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:
PROJECT DETAILS:
The detection of defects in geomembranes is essential for environmental protection in mining operations, waste management, and aquaculture projects. These structures are buried under approximately 30 cm of sand, making visual inspection or conventional spark testing impossible for integrity assessment. Currently, the dipole method is used in the field, but it is sensitive to environmental constraints such as soil moisture.
Only a small percentage of installations worldwide are legally required to undergo dipole inspection, as this method is considered unreliable. This project leverages the rich information provided by quantum magnetometers to develop a new technique for assessing the integrity of geomembranes. Multiple sensors, integrated into an autonomous inspection system and combined with fault classification algorithms based on artificial intelligence and magnetic data inversion, are being developed to rapidly provide inspection teams with the location of defects.
The miniaturization and improved robustness of the technology, together with advanced algorithms and the scaling up of functionalized geomembrane production, will support the commercialization of both the inspection system and the new geomembrane. The project will conclude with field trials on a representative site (25,000 m²) to demonstrate the advantages of the new technique compared to the dipole method.
See the Quantum Quebec fact sheet.
SECTORS:
INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS:
