New Fast and Reliable Technology for Soil Inspection in Contaminated Sites with Machinery Condition Monitoring

Final Report Summary - SOIMON (New Fast and Reliable Technology for Soil Inspection in Contaminated Sites with Machinery Condition Monitoring)

Executive Summary:
Currently, the characterisation techniques of contaminated sites suffer from the complete absence of a fast and reliable in-situ method. The most common technique involves the laboratory analysis of the soil samples, this method is rather time-consuming and expensive. The SOIMON project targets to bridge this gap through the development of an automated system capable of performing in-situ and real-time soil analysis, using sensors integrated into sonic drill casings (6'' diameter or higher). Whilst drilling, the system allows the detection of soil contaminated with Volatile Organic Compounds (Benzene, Dichloromethane, Carbon tetrachloride, etc) and heavy metal pollution Cd, Pb, Hg, etc). It also detects the soil composition (grain size, mineral composition, clay content). Finally, it is fitted with a Structural Health Monitoring system using torque, vibration and acoustic emission sensors. The SOIMON system presents advantages and benefits when compared with the actual procedures: reduced disruption in normal service; increased reliability of the data acquired in-situ in a wider range of terrain types; reduced soil inspection costs by up to 50%, reduced time for site investigation thus enabling faster decision making foundation for soil treatment; reducing maintenance costs by predicting failure so that maintenance will be performed only as needed.
The SOIMON prototype developed during this project represents an innovative technology that integrates in the drilling pipe the following full developed technologies:
• Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors to identify toluene and dichloromethane (DCM) selected as model gasses for BTEXs and chlorinated hydrocarbons;
• Radiometric sensor to heavy metal detection;
• Condition Monitoring sensors based on Acoustic emission (AE), Accelerometers and strain gauge to torque monitoring;
• Wireless communications and SOIMON software environment to real-time soil analysis and condition monitoring while drilling;
• A passive anti-vibration system providing 90% damping between 50Hz and 200Hz;
• An active damping system providing up to 4g vibration reduction.
The final trials of the SOIMON system have taken place in a hold fuel storage site with hard soil. This site was the perfect opportunity to identify VOC compound, one of the main objectives of this new developed theology and to validate all of the others subsystems as the passive system and wireless technologies.
During drilling at the final trials, SOIMON prototype has successfully identified in real-time, the presence of VOC contamination on the terrain and all others systems have been validated analysing the data transmitted in real-time and plotted into the SOIMON software. The system was subjected to high levels of vibrations, confirming the efficiency of the anti-vibration system and the ability of the sensors to monitoring through the drilling process.
New procedures, guidelines and training material have also been developed during the SOIMON project.

Project Context and Objectives:
A description of the project and objectives is presented below. The work carried out during the 24 month duration of the project is divided in seven work packages. The different work package objectives and the achievements of each one is also presented.

WP 1 Industrial system specifications
WP leader: OIKON (all partners involved)
Work Package 1 main objective are: determine the performance requirements and components of the SOIMON system and to identify and procure all test-pieces and sites required for both laboratory and field trials.
• Analytical/radiometric sensors selection and performance specification;
• Active vibration control and condition monitoring performance specification;
• Select the drilling equipment and the site specification;
• Hardware and software requirements;
• Final integrated system specifications.
The WP1 was reported into deliverable D1.1- Complete SOIMON system specification.

WP 2 AVC tool and AS casing design
WP leader: TWI (all partners involved)
Work Package 2 objectives are: develop and optimise AVC tool and procedures for protecting analytical/radiometric sensors case (located at the first bore-pipe) by damping vibrations during drilling. The necessary components (software, hardware and data processing), parameters and procedures to implement an AVC tool prototype comprising of active drivers, accelerometers and controller will be defined and fully developed and characterised.
• Analytical sensor Sensors casing design;
• Development of accelerometers array and actuator;
• Integration with sensors electronics and controllers;
The WP2 was reported into deliverable D2.1- AS sensors casing design, D2.2- Development of the AVC array and the actuators, D2.3- Integration with sensors, electronics, controllers and communication.

WP 3 Condition Monitoring System
WP leader: HGL (all partners involved)
Work Package 3 objectives are: understand the dynamics of real time drilling by analysing vibration and torque (VTA sensors) parameters at drill components (bore-pipes and drill-head). This step will provide the mean to monitor and assess wear at the drilling components and collect vibration data for activate the damping response to the AVC tool and protect the sensors case located at the first bore-pipe.
• Development of sensor array using (AE/DV) for bore-pipes;
• Integration of the VTA sensors in the bore pipes.
The WP3 was reported into deliverable D3.1- Development of the sensor array using the AE/DV/VTA and D3.2- Report laboratory trials on bore pipes for VTA and hardware integration.

WP 4 Prototype System integration and validation
WP leader: Medusa (all partners involved)
Work Package 4 objectives are: integrate components of the SOIMON system and determine performance (sensitivity) of AS at established vibration ranges. Identifying and procuring test-specimens and sites required for field trials.
• Assessment of analytical/radiometric sensor integrity, performance and sensitivity;
• Merging hardware and software finalisation;
• Integration of the System with wireless data communication;
• Laboratory trials/soil sensing and system calibration;
• Assessment of analytical/radiometric sensors integrity and sensitivity.
The WP4 was reported into deliverable D4.1- Integration of the SOIMON system and Assessment of integrity/performance and sensitivity.

WP 5 Field Trials
WP leader: M&J (all partners involved)
Work Package 5 objectives are: validation and calibration of the SOIMON system components (sensors and algorithms) looking to achieve optimum damping performance and reliability of analytical/radiometric systems at specified vibration ranges.
• Field trials at contaminated sites;
• Validation of the soil monitoring process coupled to the CM;
• Assessment of analytical/radiometric sensors response under different drilling conditions;
• Finalisation of SOIMON calibration.
The WP5 was reported into deliverable D5.1- Field trials: SOIMON system validation in contaminated site and D5.2- SOIMON system finalisation and calibration.

WP 6 Training, Dissemination & Exploitation
WP leader: Medusa (all partners involved)
Work Package 6 objectives are: maximise the impact factor of the project by:
• Preparing the training manual guidelines and provide training to the personnel for the developed inspection method field/validation trials;
• Establishing a website with confidential information accessible by participants and other authorised individuals and with public access to a substantial body of other information addressed both to potential customers and public awareness policy;
• Presenting partnership approved conference presentations and journal publications;
• Preparing exploitation plans Development of the Plan for Use and Dissemination of the Foreground (PUDF);
• Issuing regular newsletters.
The WP6 was reported into deliverable D6.1- Personnel training guideline documents; D6.2- SOIMON Website and Press Release; D6.3- Interim Plan for the Use and Dissemination of Foreground (PUDF); D6.4- Final Plan for the Use and Dissemination of Foreground (PUDF) and D6.5- 5-minute promotional video clip.

WP 7 Project Coordination and Consortium Management
WP leader: OIKON (all partners involved)
Work Package 7 objectives are: to plan, organise and review all consortium and participant activities. To co-ordinate activities so that a durable structure is established, to report to the REA and the Project Steering Committee (PSC), monitor plans and operational performance of all activities. To assist participants and work-package leaders to achieve their objectives. To review, control and report financial information (budget and costs) to the consortium and the REA.
The WP7 was reported into deliverable D7.1- Consortium Agreement (CA): Consortium Agreement to be agreed by all partners by the start date of the project.

Project Results:

WP 1 Industrial system specifications
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI

The work-package 1 sets activities to determine the SOIMON system specifications and operating conditions. The objectives are achieved through the development of the following items:
• System packaging draft idea design;
• Active and passive vibrations control description;
• Selection of soil sensors performance;
• Selection of CM performance;
• Hardware and software requirements;
• Description of the full integrated system specification.
The specification document for the complete SOIMON system determines the most important system parameters (Requirements and Specifications) have been developed after performing a detailed research process according to previous experience from the RTDs. This document has focused on achieving the project goals and stakeholders expectations.
The following topics show the most important requirements covered in the first period:
• The type of sensors and locations;
• Search on predictive modelling to calculate vibration modes and frequencies. This is used to analyse the vibration that could have an effect on the hardware in order to keep a stable electronics performance;
• Determination of the AS sensors (SAW and radiometric sensors) performance;
• Optimisation of the space required by the AVC sensors between the bore pipe and the sensors case. This space is optimised in order to make the system efficient, light and cost effective;
• AE sensors are considered, with focus on the evaluation of the effect of vibration on the performance/detection;
• Hardware and software requirements are defined for AS, AVC and CM sensors operation, power supply using battery, digital data transfer and the soil and structure monitoring process;
• Requirements for the communication strategy are determined. This strategy integrates data exchange for both soil quality investigation and SHM analysis.
The Surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay lines have been selected as the SAW elements to employ in this application and the performance specifications have been determined. The SAW delay lines have been ordered and have arrived at DTI.
The radiometric sensor parts have been selected based on a compromise between weight, performance and price. A cylindrical CsI(Na) crystal with a diameter of two inches and a height of two inches has been selected due to its robustness, price and expected performance. The crystal comes in an aluminium housing that also contains the photomultiplier tube, a high voltage generator and amplifier. All parts have been selected to obtain robustness and high quality measurements. A multichannel analyser and processing unit incorporated into the same printed circuit board have been selected for the radiometric sensor. This unit is capable of performing the data analysis of the radiometric data down hole. All the parts of the radiometric sensor have been ordered and received by the end of July.
The proposed condition monitoring (CM) using VTA sensors, allows the monitoring of the integrity of the whole structure including the first bore pipe where the soil sensors (SAW and radiometric) casing is located and feeds information to the AVC tool for adjusting damping response by considering all vibrating elements in the drill. AE technique were implemented as well as the VTA sensors as part of the CM system which also provides information on the drill component wear/condition to minimise the drill downtime by preventing catastrophic drill component failure (including the soil sensors case). Wear components can be determined indirectly by measuring the torque or force applied to these components since their value changes when the component is worn. Not only have the AE sensors been selected to reduce the price and size of the CM system but also the system has a compromise within the performance and response.

WP 2 AVC tool and AS casing design
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI

SOIMON sensors case was designed to increase the reliability of the analytical and the radiometric sensors through the implementation of an active vibration control tool. This case will house the radiometric equipment and the system electronics. Current VOC tested sensors requiring a flow of a gas carrier during operation makes the design bulky and costly and most importantly, it limits the sensors performance during in-situ operation. Design optimization makes the effectiveness of the VOC sensors increase. The electronics encapsulation is the more fragile piece of equipment of the sensor case elements. The sensors case was designed with the consideration of space needed to integrate all elements and devices that are to be part of the damping system. The types of sensors were selected on the basis to optimise space in order to reduce weight and cost. Feedback from both the active and passive control systems was necessary to arrange the space and to select the optimum distribution of the elements.
The radiometric sensor will be incorporated into the actively damped sensor casing as mentioned. The radiometric sensor measures gamma radiation, which easily penetrates aluminium and steel (the material of the crystal housing and the casing plus bore pipe, respectively) and thus the sensor does not need direct contact with the soil, special inlets or alike.
The SAW sensors are robust but their response times and potential accuracy of the measurements are strongly dependent on the gas volume in the system. A smaller gas volume will give faster and potentially more accurate measurements and hence limiting the volume is of higher priority than damping the vibrations for the SAW sensors. The casing for the SAW sensors will be placed directly on the bore-pipe with a membrane fitted in the bore pipe to allow volatile organic carbons (VOCs) to enter the SAW sensor compartment. Placing the casing on the bore pipe will result in no damping of the SAW system but it means having direct access to the soil and therefore a long, flexible tubing with a substantial volume can be avoided. A casing design for the SAW sensors, that takes all of the above-mentioned issues into consideration has been developed. CAD drawings have been made and methods to attached/mount the casing inside the bore-pipe have been identified.
Work on selecting coating materials and developing coating techniques to apply polymeric coatings to the SAW sensors and developing the electronics needed in the SAW sensor system was completed.
The development of a system to protect the analytical elements and electronics, the integrity of the bore-pipe components and enhance the sensitivity and robustness of the analytical and radiometric sensing system was delivered.
The study for development and optimisation of the AVC tool and procedures for protecting analytical and radiometric sensor case (located at the first bore-pipe) by damping vibrations at which the case is subjected during drilling was presented.
The AVC tool was characterised within a range of frequencies (1Hz to 1kHz), the damping system will thus adapt to all the vibrating sources.
The following objectives have been reached were:
• Select the spring vibration damper for the reduction of the case vibration
• Identify the parameters that could be used to perform the modelling and the lab test
• Identify the target performance of the active vibration system
• Define the components, parameters and procedures to implement an AVC tool prototype comprising active drivers, accelerometers and controller
• Develop and optimise AVC tool for protecting analytical/radiometric sensors case
• Establish boundary conditions at which the damping effect occurs
Identifying and establishing the damping parameters and components, the following goals have been achieved:
• Damp vibrations at ranges that could effectively jeopardise the integrity of the case or the reliability of its response
• Damp drilling induced vibration in order to protect hardware/electronics during soil investigation
• Damp vibrations and alleviate the non-beneficial condition for the sensors case
Concerning the AVC, the optimum actuator has been selected (piezoelectric) as well as the corresponding amplifier. The accelerometer for Active Vibration has been selected and acquired. Simulations using Matlab Simulink of the PID algorithm based on the actuator output, the vibrations input have been carried out to determine the optimum P, I and D parameters for AVC.
The board with AVC has been developed to provide real time AVC and allows setting up the P, I and D parameters from a laptop through USB connection. The AVC system has been tested on a shaker to validate it. The test has proved that by manually tuning the voltage of the amplifier, the AVC system allowed reducing the vibrations by up to 60%, however the electronic board was redesigned and rebuilt providing clean signals in the targeted frequency band of AVC: 50Hz to 200Hz and tested later.
WP 3 Condition Monitoring System
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI
The development of the CM system is the scope of this WP. It employs two AE sensors and a DAQ system specifically designed for the needs of the SOIMON application.
Numerical modelling of the pipe, condition monitoring system strategy and the data acquisition system development (both hardware and software) were presented along this WP. Numerical modal analysis of the pipe was carried out. Depending on the harmonic excitation nature, certain modes are excited rather than others. Hence, in order to avoid damage and fatigue due to excessive vibration, natural modes frequencies of the pipe were identified.
Simulation of AE propagation into the pipe allows simulating the velocity of the elastodynamic AE wave and the scattering on the boundaries.
The development of the data acquisition software and its interface are detailed with the acquisition parameters, the data processing and the way localisation was implemented. The exact characteristics of the DAQ system hardware and software were provided. The hardware electronics were developed according to the needs and requirements of the SOIMON application. Specifically, the developed hardware is capable of supporting up to eight sensors/channels with a sampling rate up to 500kSPS per channel. Additionally, the preamplifier board was designed and developed according to the SOIMON specifications. It should be noted that the developed pre-amplifier board is capable of providing amplification of approximately 40dB for two Acoustic Emission sensors.
Furthermore, the DAQ algorithm was developed; the DAQ procedure is triggered when the AE signals exceed the threshold level of 0.01V. Additionally, the CM software was developed and it consists of two parts; (a) the Data Acquisition (DAQ) software component and (b) the localisation software component. The DAQ software is responsible for setting the acquisition parameters and displaying the recorded AE signals. The localisation software is responsible for processing the recorded AE waveforms providing information about characteristic signal parameters such as; the duration and amplitude of the signal, its rise-time and energy as well as the AE counts. The localisation software is based on the Time of Arrival (ToA) linear localisation method and calculates the location of the recorded AE hit in terms of distance from the AE sensors.
It is highlighted that special effort was placed into developing a modular, small-size data acquisition card which could be compatible with the majority of commercial sensors. Additionally, the localisation software was developed in Visual C++ in an effort to create a low application size consuming minimal memory resources that can be easily used and exploited by the consortium SMEs.
Experimental Validation of the Condition Monitoring (CM) system: Towards this direction, a preliminary sensor mounting setup, that allowed the mounting of the sensors on the pipe, was developed. The experimental validation of the CM system was performed by employing the pencil lead brake method, widely accepted by the industry. A number of localisation experiments were performed with varying sensor-to-sensor distances, evaluating the performance of the localisation software. The ability of the CM system to accurately localise defects in the whole pipe circumference was reported, proving that the developed CM system is capable of monitoring the whole pipe drill structure.
The final design integration has been set-up allowing the sensors to give the most precise information possible of the health of the SOIMON casing by
• Installing the accelerometer close to the drilling bit to measure the vibrations near the drilling point
• Installing the AE sensors as far as possible from one another and at the same time putting them in the sealed area in order to protect them from the water
• Developing the semi-bridge and power supply for the strain gauge
• Developing the power supply and the conditioning circuit for the accelerometer
• Developing, testing and validating the electronics for AE
• Developing, testing and validating the electronics for Vibration and Torque data acquisition
Laboratory trials for each individual component. All the RTDs gathered to do both sensors and electronics integration in the internal casing and perform tests of all the sensors for both soil inspection and structural health monitoring
• The SAW sensor has been tested after integration using Toluene as a VOC and worked flawlessly in the lab
• The Acoustic Emission sensors have been integrated with the electronics and tested. The software was able to store AE signals but there was a bug in the location algorithm. This has been fixed later in the project. The amplitude of AE have been compared to measurements of
• The vibration measurement have been measured and compared with the data acquired by a professional Dewosoft vibrations data acquisition system proving that the measurements were perfectly matching.
• The tests allowed at the same time to validate the wireless data transmission system, the software and the GUI developed in order to communicate with the electronic boards of the AE sensors, the Vibration and Torque Sensors, the Radiometric Sensor and the SAW sensor.

WP 4 Prototype System integration and validation
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI
To reach the objectives proposed for this WP the set of tests have been conducted.
Testes for sensitivity and the integrity of the SOIL inspection sensors
• The radiometric sensor has been tested under vibrations in a shaker using Zircon Sand radioactive harmless substance to validate the radiometric withstanding vibrations of 4g. Its performance wasn’t modified and its sensitivity was very good
• The SAW sensor showed sensitivity to temperature. Hence the SAW sensor was modified to integrate dual sensors, on is coated and used a s a reference, the other one wasn’t. This allows taking into account measurement deviation due to temperature variation. The modified SAW sensor was tested, and validated in the lab for different VOC components and concentrations. It has been found that the SAW sensor allows the detection of VOC concentrations as low as 1000ppm. It still requires improvement of sensitivity.
The merging of hardware and software happened at the same time as the laboratory trials of each individual component as the sensors and electronics could not be tested without integration with the software and GUI developed. The integration was seamless and worked immediately after integration.
The SAW and Radiometric sensor do not require any parameters and the software shows data acquired and processed by the electronics of either sensor. The structural health monitoring system requires the implementation of algorithms such as the location for Acoustic Emission. Parameters such as sampling frequency and integration have to be set-up. Parameters set-up has been tested and validated.
During the integration of the Wireless system data communication has been validated simultaneous uploading data from all the sensors (SAW, Radiometric, Acoustic Emission, Vibration and Torque). The wireless communication was tested by installing the transmitting antenna inside a sonic drilling casing.
The laboratory calibration was performed on a sensor basis:
• The SAW sensor was tested by VOCs which concentration was known. This allowed linking the voltage to a VOC concentration. This value was sensitive to temperature. Hence, it was modified to take into account the temperature.
• The Acoustic Emission Sensor was calibrated by the well-established Hsu-Nielsen source for calibrating the location algorithm
• The Vibration measurement was calibrated by comparing the measurements of transient and sin excitation to a professional vibration acquisition system.

WP 5 Field Trials
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI
A contaminated site has been identified in Sandbach, UK to perform final field trials. The site was used for hydrocarbons distribution. The reservoirs were leaking leading to soil contamination up to a depth of 3m. The consortium agreed to perform the field trials with Sonic Supplies Ltd. The company signed a non-disclosure agreement and showed interest in commercialising the system once taken to higher TRL levels.
Concerning the structural health monitoring system implemented in the SOIMON casing, the torque sensor was not installed as drilling was performed without rotation. Indeed, the use of cables for power supply did not allow drilling with rotation. The absence of torque made the use of a torque sensor uninteresting. It was then decided to use two accelerometers instead. One inside the damped area and one outside the damped area. The sensor installed outside allows CM while the sensor inside allows assessing the efficiency of the vibration damping system.
Results showed that the structural health monitoring systems gathered data flawlessly during a whole day of testing.
The passive damping system protected the sensors and electronics with vibration levels of 40g to 80g and a peak of 120g. Comparing the vibration inside and outside the damped area, results show that vibrations were reduced by 60% to 80%.
During the field trials, the SAW sensor was able to detect soil contamination at different depths. The SAW sensor was tested at different speeds of penetration and using the stop and go configuration. Tests showed that the stop and go configuration was the best as it allowed stabilisation of the results.
There were communication problems which did not allow the use of the radiometric sensor simultaneously. There is no radioactive contamination in the site which makes the latter less important in the field trials.
Finalisation of the SOIMON calibration of each individual sensor was carried out in the laboratory. There was no requirement for calibration during or after the field trials.

WP 6 Training, Dissemination & Exploitation
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI

The project website has been developed and updated continuously with project progress information. The website was developed using standard headers, navigation blocks and footers enabling efficient navigation through the website. Additionally, the website is composed of public and private sections, which presents any confidential information related to the progress of the project to the partners.
A brochure was developed and will be circulated by the consortium in relevant events.
An interim plan for use and dissemination of the foreground (PUDF) has been submitted. It covers issues like the management of knowledge and intellectual property, an exploitation and dissemination plan both during the lifetime of the project and afterwards.
The planned dissemination activities have started with a project website and cross reference to the website from partner websites.
The list of activities was:
• PDAC Convention ’15, The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, PDAC annual Convention Exhibit & Presentation, 1-4 March 2015, Toronto, Canada. Link: http://www.pdac.ca/convention;
• International Conference on Advances in Vibrations, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP). Scientific dissemination. Paper submission and presentation. March 30-April 1, 2015, Porto, Portugal. https://sites.google.com/a/gcloud.fe.up.pt/vibrations2015/.
The potential impact for the SMEs partners and also a study of their home countries have been described.

WP 7 Project Coordination and Consortium Management
Partners involved: OIKON, HGL, Medusa, M&J, IKH, DTI and TWI

Work Package 7 refers to Project Management and Coordination, which is an on-going task throughout the project duration.
This work package also includes:
• Project Management of Technical and Administrative activities and all Project Reports (Progress Reports, Technical Reports, WP Reports, and Final Project Report).
• As part of this Work Package, the Project Coordinator has been planning, organizing & monitoring projects for administrative, legal and contractual matters, quality and standards representation and implementation.
• Allocated budgets & cost statements have been collated and reviewed prior to submission to the EC. The Project Manager planned, organized and reviewed at three month intervals the technology, product and knowledge management work packages with the Work Package Leaders.
• The Project Manager has been dealing with the day to day inter-participant or consortium level issues.
Deliverable Signed Consortium Agreement was delivered on time in month 2.

Potential Impact:
The innovation of SOIMON project expects the following results to surpass current technical barriers:
Novel SAW Sensor for soil contamination analysis
• Integrate the sensor in the drilling casings
• Reduce the cost of VOC detection
Radiometric Sensor
• Detect soil contamination with heavy metals
• Determine soil composition (particle size, clay content, etc)
VTA system
• Perform casing structural health monitoring to determine the risk of breaking using Acoustic Emission, Vibration Analysis and Torque
• Allow condition based maintenance
Passive and Active Vibration damping system
• Protect the radiometric sensor
• Protect the fragile PCBs
Data analysis software
• Wireless data communication for real time analysis
• Bespoke software for data acquisition, analysis and storage
• Simple GUI for easy end user experience

The advantages that the SOIMON system will bring include:
• Increased reliability of the data acquired in situ in a wider range of terrain types.
• Reduced cost of analytical/ radiometric sensors case (reduced volume and need of peripheral equipment) > 30%.
• Reduced disruption in normal service. Increased drill parts life span by allowing 100% in real time structural monitoring (bore-pipes, drill-head and sensors case).
• Reducing maintenance costs by predicting failure so that maintenance will be performed only as needed.
• Reduced soil inspection costs by approximately 50% (reduction of operation time).
• Reduced time for site investigation thus enabling faster decision making foundation for soil treatment.

The view SOIMON system from the SMEs is:
• Primarily an AVC platform for soil sensors;
• Platform = combination of vibration control; downhole PSU and wireless data communication, software for readout and monitoring;
• Secondly a scanning tool for soil pollution monitoring
• The combination SAW/RAD is an instance; an example of an application of the SOIMON platform

SOIMON system to OIKON
OIKON business activities range from environmental consultancy services to provision of integral specialist studies and research in the field of applied ecology. Specialties of the company include environment and nature protection, sustainable development, forestry and applied forest research, agriculture, ecological modelling, marine biology, landscape ecology, geo-statistics, remote sensing and GIS.

From 1 July 2013, Croatia became a member of the EU that brings new requirements in environmental standards that we see as the possibility and opportunity for technology and methodology developed in SOIMON project. OIKON - as one of the SME partners in SOIMON project did have a proactive role in pursuing all project goals that provided new business opportunities arising from possible commercialization of this project in Croatia and neighbouring countries/region. Namely, OIKON was responsible for identifying interested (key) partners in business sector as well as the scientific community. It should also not be forgotten administration and public authority at local, regional, national to cross-border level.
In cooperation with consortium partners OIKON was to be involved in the Dissemination and Exploitation of the expected innovations. In addition to that, SOIMON consortium did elaborate a market analysis and a business plan for the distribution of these marketable technologies and knowledge.
The knowledge and technology developed during the SOIMON implementation is of commercial interest to the companies in industry/energy/agriculture sector in Croatia and surrounding countries. Also, government representatives and public authority may be interested in having access to SOIMON technology to provide improved policy and measures in order to protect public health and the environment. Therefore, OIKON and consortium partners, firmly believe that the SOIMON outcomes are very important and usable, for both the regulatory bodies and for commercial companies to enhance their business prospects. In the last decade there has been a closure and decommissioning of a large number of large industrial plants in Croatia that have left behind large and serious problems with soil contamination. SOIMON provides a good response to these challenges. OIKON is focused on finding and involving co-operation members of the scientific community - the organization of lectures, workshops, conferences and the publication of scientific papers and articles in relevant journals to present and promote the SOIMON technology.
In the long-term perspective, strategic priorities for Croatia are agriculture and tourism. In both sectors the ability and the need for use knowledge and technology produced in SOIMON project are significant. Finally, Croatian complementary advantage is that, due to its geographic position, Croatia represents a remarkable bridge for the transfer of new knowledge and technology to the South-East Europe.

SOIMON system to HGL
HGL Dynamics is a world-leading supplier of services and high-specification equipment for the integrated capture, monitoring, analysis, storage and management of high-bandwidth data. HGL systems are used for a range of industrial and engineering applications, particularly turbines and rotating equipment. The product range is modular in design and can be used in isolation for solving small problems or integrated together to provide large data management systems. The benefit within the SOIMON project comes with the integration of sensors and devices, hardware, software and techniques for analysing vibration inside the bore pipes. Monitoring structural drill components for wear was the main application during the project. Exploitation opportunities for HGL were opened regarding the AVC technology commercialisation (as described in the project result table) and the AE technology commercialisation (identified by the RTD/SME). Additionally, the use of wireless communication for dynamic data acquisition is of interest in all areas of rotating machinery, offshore oil and gas platforms, and also automotive applications in which the sensors and signal conditioning may be mobile while the data storage and analysis equipment may be stationary (or vice versa).
HGL also investigated the potential benefit in different industrial sectors for the AVC technology, have identified further business opportunities within fracking, ships and aerospace industries and also explored opportunities for taking the wireless communication technology forward.
Acoustic emissions technology is of increasing interest to the aerospace industry within the UK, as end users seek to gain better understanding of vibration effects and onset of damaging cracks, against the pressures of shorter product development timescales and less testing time.
There is interest in robust wireless communication devices in the offshore industry, a large part of which is managed within the UK. Personnel safety on offshore platforms is a major area of concern within this industry and for any deployment of new condition monitoring equipment, wireless data transmission of data can be more readily accepted than retro-fitting wired connections that require holes to be made in existing structures.

SOIMON system to Medusa
Medusa develops methods for complete and efficient mapping of the composition and the structure of soil and sediment. By planning, performing and interpreting surveys and by supplying the systems and software, Medusa delivers geo-information to help its clients make informed choices in their important decisions. With the limited number of specialist surveying companies involved in down hole mapping, the market should be focussing throughout Europe and not only on the countries involved in the SOIMON project. Medusa’s competition is based on the traditional approach of site investigation (sampling) and in specialist tools as Enissa and the MIP system. The advantage of the SOIMON system above these two tools is the fact that the SOIMON system maps soil properties (as important clay layers) with the gamma spectrometer and that the SAW/RAD sensors operates in-situ. The market opportunities for Medusa would certainly be coming from mapping environmental pollution problems, mainly in the soft soils of the Netherlands. The main application is in acquiring detailed depth information of soil properties and in concentrations of volatile organic pollutants.
At the end of the project, possible end users that would be potentially interested on using SOIMON’s technology, would be such as environmental engineering companies (in the Netherlands eg Tauw, Arcadis, Haskoning-DHV) or government involved in site investigation.

SOIMON system to IDS
International Drilling Services (IDS) provides drilling services. It is a well known company among operating and services oil and gas companies in Tunisia. Its main market is Tunisia (90%) and also Libya and Algeria. IDS extended its activities to enlarge environment protection and waste management. Since 2005, it has been entitled by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development to collect, store, transport and treat any contaminated water, any sludge and any waste from drilling & production operations.
The SOIMON system can be of interest to IDS as it allows it to enhance its services portfolio in line with its core business in oil and gas services and environment protection by proposing soil inspection technologies services by being licensed by SOIMON SMEs. Soil contamination is a big issue in Tunisia particularly during the 80s and the 90s where industry standards for safety and environment were very low. Since the late 90s, ecological awareness has continuously increased. The SOIMON system will help assess many grounds with ecological contamination risks. Opportunities exist with private companies particularly in oil & gas as well as with tenders with the industry and ecology ministries and companies affiliated to those ministries.
Besides, Tunisia is a bridge to the North African market in general and particularly Algeria and Libya where the oil & gas industry is the most important economic sector. IDS has international activities particularly with Libya and will help for the transfer of new knowledge and technology to North Africa.

Main dissemination activities
As internal dissemination within the consortium regular information meetings took place to report to all Consortium Members the progress within the different project development tasks. This is especially relevant for the members who did not actively participate in some specific technical development tasks, but whose contribution was critical for a successful exploitation of results.
As external dissemination the update of the website accessible under http://www.soimon.eu participation in conferences, fairs, exhibitions etc. have occurred during the project development.

List of Websites:
www.soimon.eu

Final Report Summary - SOIMON (New Fast and Reliable Technology for Soil Inspection in Contaminated Sites with Machinery Condition Monitoring)

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