Reduced Mode Sapphire Optical Fiber and Sensing System
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
This is the final technical report for the Virginia Tech Center for Photonics Technology (VT-CPT) research project entitled “Reduced Mode Sapphire Optical Fiber and Sensing System”. The objective of the five-year effort was to develop a low modal volume (LMV) single crystal sapphire fiber and demonstrate its advantages in current state-of-the-art sapphire-based temperature sensors and in novel distributed ultra-high temperature sensing systems. The project, sponsored by the Crosscutting Research Program, began in 2014 and had the original goal of developing the next generation of harsh environment sensing systems. After successfully completing the original scope of the award, the project was expanded and extended to allow for the development of harsh environment packaging and testing of a prototype sensor system. These novel fiber optic sensing technologies provide real-time, accurate, and reliable temperature measurements at distributed locations in existing coal-fueled electricity generating units to improve the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of the nation’s coal-fired power plant fleet. In the final year (2018) of the project, prototype sensing systems were successfully deployed and operated in small commercial coal and natural gas fired boilers at the Virginia Tech Power Plant. The harsh environment quasi-distributed temperature sensing technology was advanced from a (Technology Readiness Level) TRL=1 to a TRL=7 by demonstrating the full validation of the sensing system prototype in a relevant industrial environment. The real-time, accurate and reliable monitoring of temperatures at distributed locations is expected to lower operating costs by allowing more accurate measurement of the harsh conditions inside a boiler system to better control its operation. The technologies developed by Virginia Tech’s Center for Photonics Technology will support the mission of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to advance energy options to fuel our economy, strengthen our security, and improve the environment.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0012274
- OSTI ID:
- 1504066
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-VT-0012274
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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