Optical Sensor of Thermal Gas Flow Based on Fiber Bragg Grating

Xu Jiang; Keda Wang; Junqing Li; Hui Zhan; Zhenan Song; Guohang Che; Guohui Lyu

doi:10.3390/s17020374

Optical Sensor of Thermal Gas Flow Based on Fiber Bragg Grating

Sensors (Basel). 2017 Feb 15;17(2):374. doi: 10.3390/s17020374.

Authors

Xu Jiang¹, Keda Wang², Junqing Li³, Hui Zhan⁴, Zhenan Song⁵, Guohang Che⁶, Guohui Lyu⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Information Science and Technology, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. 1995042@hlju.edu.cn.
² Research Center for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology National Local Joint Engineering, Electronic Engineering College, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. 2151243@s.hlju.edu.cn.
³ Physics Department, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. jqli@hit.edu.cn.
⁴ Research Center for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology National Local Joint Engineering, Electronic Engineering College, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. 2000092@hlju.edu.cn.
⁵ Research Center for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology National Local Joint Engineering, Electronic Engineering College, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. 2131232@s.hlju.edu.cn.
⁶ Research Center for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology National Local Joint Engineering, Electronic Engineering College, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. 2131242@s.hlju.edu.cn.
⁷ Research Center for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology National Local Joint Engineering, Electronic Engineering College, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China. lvguohui@hlju.edu.cn.

Abstract

This paper aims at solving the problem of explosion proof in measurement of thermal gas flow using electronic sensor by presenting a new type of flow sensor by optical fiber heating. A measuring unit based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) for fluid temperature and a unit for heat dissipation are designed to replace the traditional electronic sensors. The light in C band from the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light source is split, with one part used to heat the absorbing coating and the other part used in the signal processing unit. In the heating unit, an absorbing coating is introduced to replace the traditional resistance heating module to minimize the risk of explosion. The measurement results demonstrate a fine consistency between the flow and temperature difference in simulation. The method to enhance the measurement resolution of flow is also discussed.

Keywords: constant power method; fiber Bragg grating; heat flow sensor; light absorbing coating.