Multiresonant Chipless RFID Array System for Coating Defect Detection and Corrosion Prediction

In this article, a fully passive, wireless solution for out-of-sight pipeline monitoring is presented. By predicting corrosion before its occurrence, a proactive response may be taken to mitigate the chance of an environmental disaster. The chipless radio-frequency identification system is a combination of a tag ID, consisting of an array of six rectangular spiral resonators, and a tag antenna consisting of two cross-polarized novel patch antennas etched on a skin-thin microwave laminate. The tags are grounded on a carbon steel pipeline coated with 3 mm Teflon (polyethylene-like electrical characteristics). The proposed system exhibits robust capability to create frequency signatures to detect and monitor defects underneath the pipeline coating owing to water ingress that could eventuate to corrode the pipeline. The reader antenna above the pipeline comprises two identically cross-polarized log periodic dipole antennas with the intent to remotely capture resonances of the tag ID in real-time for early detection and prediction of potential pipeline exposure to moisture. The proposed structure provides low-cost real-time solution.