WHEELING, WV — The Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) has announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a new ultrasonic leak detection technology which is said to offer significant improvement for specific leak-detection applications. NASA is offering the technology for licensing.
This leak detection technique was designed to provide a highly sensitive listening device that would detect small gaseous leaks at a distance of a few inches to a range of 12 to 15 in. from the source of the leak. It uses an elliptical collector for focusing ultrasonic waves that reflect from the internal surface onto a detector located at one of the focal points of the ellipse (at the opposite end of the opening).