Fuel level sensor based on polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings for aircraft applications

C. A. F. Marques; A. Pospori; D. Sáez-Rodríguez; K. Nielsen; O. Bang; D. J. Webb

doi:10.1117/12.2225918

27 April 2016 Fuel level sensor based on polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings for aircraft applications

C. A. F. Marques, A. Pospori, D. Sáez-Rodríguez, K. Nielsen, O. Bang, D. J. Webb

Proceedings Volume 9886, Micro-Structured and Specialty Optical Fibres IV; 98860W (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2225918
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2016, Brussels, Belgium

Abstract

Safety in civil aviation is increasingly important due to the increase in flight routes and their more challenging nature. Like other important systems in aircraft, fuel level monitoring is always a technical challenge. The most frequently used level sensors in aircraft fuel systems are based on capacitive, ultrasonic and electric techniques, however they suffer from intrinsic safety concerns in explosive environments combined with issues relating to reliability and maintainability. In the last few years, optical fiber liquid level sensors (OFLLSs) have been reported to be safe and reliable and present many advantages for aircraft fuel measurement. Different OFLLSs have been developed, such as the pressure type, float type, optical radar type, TIR type and side-leaking type. Amongst these, many types of OFLLSs based on fiber gratings have been demonstrated. However, these sensors have not been commercialized because they exhibit some drawbacks: low sensitivity, limited range, long-term instability, or limited resolution. In addition, any sensors that involve direct interaction of the optical field with the fuel (either by launching light into the fuel tank or via the evanescent field of a fiber-guided mode) must be able to cope with the potential build up of contamination – often bacterial – on the optical surface. In this paper, a fuel level sensor based on microstructured polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (mPOFBGs), including poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and TOPAS fibers, embedded in diaphragms is investigated in detail. The mPOFBGs are embedded in two different types of diaphragms and their performance is investigated with aviation fuel for the first time, in contrast to our previous works, where water was used. Our new system exhibits a high performance when compared with other previously published in the literature, making it a potentially useful tool for aircraft fuel monitoring.

Citation Download Citation

C. A. F. Marques, A. Pospori, D. Sáez-Rodríguez, K. Nielsen, O. Bang, and D. J. Webb "Fuel level sensor based on polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings for aircraft applications", Proc. SPIE 9886, Micro-Structured and Specialty Optical Fibres IV, 98860W (27 April 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2225918

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available