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PRCI PR-219-9225
- Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor Development
- Report / Survey by Pipeline Research Council International, 01/26/1995
- Publisher: PRCI
$25.00$49.00
L51724e
Texas Engineering & Experiment Station (TEES)
(e-book version)Need: Fiber optic sensors have been under development in industrial and government laboratories around the world for over a decade The commercial market for fiber sensors for measuring parameters such as temperature, displacement, and liquid level is now estimated to exceed $50 M/year Aside from the commercial interest, the U S. Department of Defense has vigorously pursued the development of fiber gyroscopes and hydrophones In spite of the high level of research and devleopment activity, however, fiber sensors were not successfully applied in the relatively harsh environment of engine combustion chambers prior to 1991.
Benefit: The goal of this development is to demonstrate the utilization of a new fiber optic sensor technology in engines used for natural gas transmission. Presently, there is no way to continuously measure pressure in these engines over extended periods of operation. Reliable fiber optic sensor networks supplying data to computerized control systems for on-line engine balancing could lead to major reductions in the emission of NO, and other harmful combustion products. Fuel economies in the millions of dollars per year for companies in the natural gas transmission industry could also be realized. In earlier work, PRCI Project PR-219-9120 entitled "Fiber Optic Fabry Perot Sensors for Combustion Chamber Montoring" was awarded to Texas A&M University in 1991 to explore the application of a unique type of sensor based upon the fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI). Initial experiments on small gasoline-powered and diesel engines were followed by tests in large Worthington UTC natural-gas-powered engines in two Tenneco Gas compressor stations. The success of these tests led to the award of PRCI Project PR-219-9225 entitled "Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor Development" to Texas A&M University in 1992. This report describes the work supported by that project during the time period Nov. 1992 - Feb. 1994, and also includes some more recent results of sensor testing carried out by FFPI Industries, Inc.
Result: Considerable progress has been made towards the engineering development of a reliable sensor and associated signal conditioning electronics which can be commercialized in the near term. New transducer designs were tested in two four-cylinder gasoline-powered Onan engines Two U. S. Patent Applications have been filed on these designs. Over 5,400 hours of in-cylinder operation have been accumulated with only two failures, one due to a broken cable. A new optical subsystem in which one laser provides optical power to all the sensors in an engine was also implemented. A signal processor converts the raw data from the optical subsystem to a digital representation of pressure vs. time for each cylinder. The digital data is converted to analog form to provide an oscilloscope display of the data for each cylinder. Following extensive operation in an Onan engine, the system was transported to Fort Collins, Colorado, for testing in a large natural-gas-powered Cooper GMV-TF engine. These tests, carried out in cooperation with Colorado State University and the Woodward Governor Company, showed the ability of the fiber sensors to track in-cylinder pressure under a wide variety of operating conditions. Nearly 1,400 in-cylinder sensor-hours were accumulated during operation of the Cooper engine.
Texas Engineering & Experiment Station (TEES)
(e-book version)Need: Fiber optic sensors have been under development in industrial and government laboratories around the world for over a decade The commercial market for fiber sensors for measuring parameters such as temperature, displacement, and liquid level is now estimated to exceed $50 M/year Aside from the commercial interest, the U S. Department of Defense has vigorously pursued the development of fiber gyroscopes and hydrophones In spite of the high level of research and devleopment activity, however, fiber sensors were not successfully applied in the relatively harsh environment of engine combustion chambers prior to 1991.
Benefit: The goal of this development is to demonstrate the utilization of a new fiber optic sensor technology in engines used for natural gas transmission. Presently, there is no way to continuously measure pressure in these engines over extended periods of operation. Reliable fiber optic sensor networks supplying data to computerized control systems for on-line engine balancing could lead to major reductions in the emission of NO, and other harmful combustion products. Fuel economies in the millions of dollars per year for companies in the natural gas transmission industry could also be realized. In earlier work, PRCI Project PR-219-9120 entitled "Fiber Optic Fabry Perot Sensors for Combustion Chamber Montoring" was awarded to Texas A&M University in 1991 to explore the application of a unique type of sensor based upon the fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI). Initial experiments on small gasoline-powered and diesel engines were followed by tests in large Worthington UTC natural-gas-powered engines in two Tenneco Gas compressor stations. The success of these tests led to the award of PRCI Project PR-219-9225 entitled "Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor Development" to Texas A&M University in 1992. This report describes the work supported by that project during the time period Nov. 1992 - Feb. 1994, and also includes some more recent results of sensor testing carried out by FFPI Industries, Inc.
Result: Considerable progress has been made towards the engineering development of a reliable sensor and associated signal conditioning electronics which can be commercialized in the near term. New transducer designs were tested in two four-cylinder gasoline-powered Onan engines Two U. S. Patent Applications have been filed on these designs. Over 5,400 hours of in-cylinder operation have been accumulated with only two failures, one due to a broken cable. A new optical subsystem in which one laser provides optical power to all the sensors in an engine was also implemented. A signal processor converts the raw data from the optical subsystem to a digital representation of pressure vs. time for each cylinder. The digital data is converted to analog form to provide an oscilloscope display of the data for each cylinder. Following extensive operation in an Onan engine, the system was transported to Fort Collins, Colorado, for testing in a large natural-gas-powered Cooper GMV-TF engine. These tests, carried out in cooperation with Colorado State University and the Woodward Governor Company, showed the ability of the fiber sensors to track in-cylinder pressure under a wide variety of operating conditions. Nearly 1,400 in-cylinder sensor-hours were accumulated during operation of the Cooper engine.
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