Conference Info
Prof. Ferruccio Renzoni, Invited Speaker at the 2026 FENDT Forum
Time：2026-05-31
Through-barrier electromagnetic induction imaging with atomic magnetometers:
a new tool for NDT
Ferruccio Renzoni
The assessment of corrosion in pipelines remains a critical challenge in the Oil & Gas industry. In particular, corrosion under insulation (CUI) arises from moisture trapped between the insulation layer and the pipe surface, leading to localized damage that can ultimately cause catastrophic failure. Early detection is therefore essential. However, access to the pipeline surface is hindered by insulating layers, which in ageing infrastructure may include hard-to-remove materials such as asbestos.
Existing approaches for CUI monitoring—including infrared thermography, neutron backscattering, radiography, pulsed eddy current testing, and ultrasonic techniques—each suffer from important limitations. As a result, efficient, large-scale inspection of insulated pipelines remains an open problem.
Recent work has demonstrated that electromagnetic induction imaging with atomic magnetometers (EMI-AM) can detect and quantify localized thinning in metallic structures, opening a viable route for CUI inspection. This approach offers several advantages over existing techniques: it is simple, low-cost, and non-ionising, and therefore intrinsically safe. Crucially, its operation at low frequencies enables significant penetration through both insulating and the underlying pipeline structure.
Initial proof-of-concept demonstrations were performed using a laboratory-based system with mechanically translated samples. Moving towards real-world deployment requires instead a portable sensor capable of scanning fixed structures. This has been achieved through the development of a mechanically translatable, unshielded atomic magnetometer, enabling operation in realistic environments and paving the way for field applications.
This talk will review recent progress in EMI-AM for through-barrier imaging and discuss future directions towards practical, deployable NDT solutions.
Biography
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Deputy Head of Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London
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Member (Sub-panel 9: Physics) in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF).
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Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group (August 2015- December 2022).
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Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
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Member of the Institute of Physics.
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Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College (2006-present).
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Guest Editor for a Special Issue of the Journal of Modern Optics (20011).
Research Profile:
Professor Ferruccio Renzoni's research focuses on quantum sensing for non-destructive testing (NDT) and fundamental physics such as Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC). His primary research areas encompass atomic magnetometry, cold atom physics, and nonlinear dynamics. He is dedicated to advancing quantum sensing technologies based on cold atomic systems and atomic magnetometers. Notably, he was the first to demonstrate electromagnetic induction imaging (EMI) using atomic magnetometers and continues to drive this technology towards practical applications in biomedical imaging, non-destructive testing, and security screening. His work also involves using cold atoms in optical lattices to simulate statistical mechanics phenomena, exploring collective strong coupling regimes in multimode cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), and conducting in-depth theoretical and experimental investigations into transport and dynamics in nonlinear systems, such as Brownian motors in optical lattices and dissipation-induced symmetry breaking.
He has published over 90 academic papers in journals including Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters, many of which are highly influential with more than 50 citations each.
Professional Service:
He has been a referee for EPSRC, The Royal Society, INTAS, the Leverhulme Trust, the FWF Austrian Science Fund, the Israeli Science Foundation, and the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
He has been a committee member or has delivered invited/plenary talks at dozens of major international academic conferences, including the European Physical Society conferences, the International Quantum Electronics Conference, and SPIE conferences on Sensing and Imaging.
[1] P. Bevington, R. Gartman, W. Chalupczak, C. Deans, L. Marmugi, and F. Renzoni, Non-Destructive Structural Imaging of Steelwork with Atomic Magnetometers, Appl. Phys. Lett. 113, 063503 (2018).
[2] H. Yao, N. Yin, R. Lee, G. Liu, F. Renzoni, Through-Barrier Sub-mm Electromagnetic Induction Imaging With Atomic Magnetometers, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 74, 4506708 (2025).
[3] H. Yao and F. Renzoni, High-sensitivity operation of unshielded radio-frequency atomic magnetometers using phase-lock techniques, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 74, 9535009 (2025).
[4] H. Yao, L. Zhao, T. Ma, and F. Renzoni, Fast electromagnetic induction imaging with unshielded radio-frequency atomic magnetometers in phase-lock mode, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 74, 8007907 (2025).
