Remote identification of liquids in a dielectric container using millimeter waves. 1. Principal possibility

Abstract

The possibility of applying short-range radiolocation in millimeter wave range for problem of remote identification of flammable and hazardous liquids, enclosed in dielectric containers is demonstrated for the first time. Developed measurement setup allows indoor investigations; and the level of emitted power of utilized devices is insignificantly higher than background noise level, or, equivalently, thermal radiation. The described radiometric measurement setup enables discriminating liquids having different physical and chemical properties, in particular discriminate between water and gasoline containers. Applying additional illumination, which increases the contrast of the object under test, is one of one of the features of developed design. Various noise sources were investigated to be used as additional illumination. It was shown that in case of short-range radiolocation, energy-efficient fluorescent lamp is the most affordable choice of radiometric illumination. Such lamp not only ensures sufficient noise level in the operating frequency domain, but also has in-built modulation device that allows using modulation regime of the receiver and enables higher sensitivity.