Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Please feel free to ask other members for help with certain projects
Post Reply
Michael_Carter
I have made <0 posts
I have made <0 posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 4:40 pm
7
Full Name: Michael Carter
Company Details: Doucet Survey Inc.
Company Position Title: Director of 3D Mapping
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: No

Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by Michael_Carter »

I would appreciate any input on experience that people have had with scanning down inside large manholes or vaults where there is a significant amount of steam present. We've done a little work using a special telescoping tripod that allows us to lower a scanner (inverted) down into an underground vault. That process worked well enough, but we've been requested to scan manholes at an industrial site where there are underground steam lines, and when some of those manhole lids are opened we see that the vault space appears to be full of steam. I am skeptical about lowering a scanner down into that environment, and would be interested to hear if any of you have tried such a thing and what the outcomes were. Thank you in advance! - Michael
JNally
I have made 90-100 posts
I have made 90-100 posts
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 12:00 pm
8
Full Name: Joe Nally
Company Details: EPS
Company Position Title: Lead Surveyor
Country: Ireland
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: IRL
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by JNally »

Micheal,

Just a quick one from myself. I have done a lot of scanning around Steam now and it will appear as noise in the scan. I have also scanned manholes where steam is present. I use a Leica P40 and can tell you that whenever steam is present it just shows up as noise and makes the scan somewhat useless. In terms of damaging the equipment I would say you are fine as the gear is IP rated. However the data is hit and miss in terms of quality.

Good Luck with it.

Regards
Joe
tbwester
V.I.P Member
V.I.P Member
Posts: 904
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:49 pm
11
Full Name: Thad Wester
Company Details: Clarity Scanning
Company Position Title: President
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: SC
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by tbwester »

Yeah steam is tough. I guess depending on the use-case and the amount of steam, you may still get some good data - but there will be a TON of noise.

Maybe bring a fan and do the best you can? Again it depends on if you need to see small objects which could be shadowed or if your just looking for general outline of piping walls, etc...

I think you'll have better luck with TOF vs Faro.
walkerrichard
I have made 50-60 posts
I have made 50-60 posts
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:49 pm
8
Full Name: Richard Walker
Company Details: Point Cloud Solutions
Company Position Title: Canadian Distributor for GeoSLAM Scanner
Country: Canada
Linkedin Profile: Yes

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by walkerrichard »

PM me and we may have a good solution for you.

Cheers
Richard
Scott
V.I.P Member
V.I.P Member
Posts: 1037
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:39 pm
13
Full Name: Scott Page
Company Details: Scott Page Design- Architectural service
Company Position Title: Owner
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: No
Location: Berkeley, CA USA
Has thanked: 206 times
Been thanked: 78 times
Contact:

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by Scott »

tbwester wrote:Yeah steam is tough. I guess depending on the use-case and the amount of steam, you may still get some good data - but there will be a TON of noise.
Here is a similar problem/solution on a much larger scale:
Article:
There’s one big problem with satellite imagery, and a space startup has found a solution for it
https://qz.com/879270/theres-one-big-pr ... on-for-it/
Michael_Carter
I have made <0 posts
I have made <0 posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 4:40 pm
7
Full Name: Michael Carter
Company Details: Doucet Survey Inc.
Company Position Title: Director of 3D Mapping
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: No

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by Michael_Carter »

Thank you all for your input; I appreciate it very much!
- Michael
User avatar
TommyMaddox
V.I.P Member
V.I.P Member
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:15 pm
7
Full Name: Tommy R Maddox III
Company Details: ONSITE3D
Company Position Title: Director of Technology
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Has thanked: 67 times
Been thanked: 130 times

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by TommyMaddox »

InfiPoints has extremely comprehensive noise reduction features. Would you be able to send me a sample scan or two that has noise in it to see if anything can be used?
gusrios
I have made 10-20 posts
I have made 10-20 posts
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 7:33 pm
8
Full Name: Gustavo Rios
Company Details: Rick Engineering
Company Position Title: Project Manager 3D Laser Scanning
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by gusrios »

GrasstecGeomatics wrote:Micheal,

Just a quick one from myself. I have done a lot of scanning around Steam now and it will appear as noise in the scan. I have also scanned manholes where steam is present. I use a Leica P40 and can tell you that whenever steam is present it just shows up as noise and makes the scan somewhat useless. In terms of damaging the equipment I would say you are fine as the gear is IP rated. However the data is hit and miss in terms of quality.

Good Luck with it.

Regards
Joe
Joe,

What type of inverted tripod do you use for the P40?
We have a potential project coming up and I think this is the way to go.

Regards,

Gus
User avatar
landmeterbeuckx
V.I.P Member
V.I.P Member
Posts: 1616
Joined: Tue May 01, 2012 5:19 pm
11
Full Name: Lieven Beuckx
Company Details: Studiebureau Beuckx
Company Position Title: Owner
Country: Belgium
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Has thanked: 183 times
Been thanked: 548 times

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by landmeterbeuckx »

I've scanned with a tx5 in the same conditions and the resultst were useless. They had to shut down this part of the plant for half an hour so i could revisit.

I have no experience with other scanners for this problem
LSBbvba
Surveying services - 3D Laserscanning
Tel : +32477753126
www.lsbbvba.be
[email protected]
cpw006
V.I.P Member
V.I.P Member
Posts: 330
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:51 am
16
Full Name: Chris Widmer
Company Details: KCI
Company Position Title: 3D Scanning Manager
Country: USA
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Scanning manholes/vaults containing steam

Post by cpw006 »

Maybe there is a different time of day or air temp that would help to cut down on the amount of steam. We have had to wait to scan areas of sites after the air temp warmed up and burned off the steam quickly. This may not ever happen with manholes though.
Post Reply

Return to “Request Help With Projects”