AOMS - Model AOMS-FOS -Fiber Optic Sensor Technology
Fiber optics, originated from telecommunication industry, is made of high purity glass, capable of transmitting optical waves over long distances (thousands of kilometers) with ultra-low loss. The breakthrough discovery, happened in 1960’s, to reduce the loss in glass fibers by removing impurities changed the fiber optic industry forever.
AOMS fiber optic sensor (AOMS-FOS) technology harnesses the power of modulated optical waves reflected from the core of optical fibers. Light travelling in the core of fiber optics is modulated by changes in the surrounding environment as a result of changes in temperature, pressure, strain, and chemical properties. The modulation of the optical waves in the form of changes in shape or the wavelength of the light waves is correlated to the measurement parameters.
By leveraging the Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology, originally developed for fiber optic telecommunication, the optical signals are mapped to physical locations along fiber optic cable for multi-point sensing also known as quasi-distributed sensing.
The core of AOMS-FOS™ technology is based on Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG). A fiber Bragg grating, with nano-structured periodic modulation of the index of refraction, functions as an optical filter. When a Bragg grating is exposed to a broadband spectrum of light, the guided light wave, propagating along the optical fiber, is scattered by each grating plane. As a result, parts of the spectrum at specific wavelengths are reflected back. The coupling between the forward and backward propagating waves results in a resonance condition at a specific wavelength of light, called the Bragg wavelength…” of light called the Bragg wavelength. Bragg gratings with different Bragg wavelengths can be distributed along the length of an optical fiber which result in a multi-peak reflection spectrum . Each reflection peak (or Bragg wavelength) is assigned to a specific location along the fiber. Changes in the strain and temperature at each Bragg grating location results in the changes in Bragg wavelength and the shape of the reflection peaks (such as changes in the reflection bandwidth). The change in the Bragg wavelength is a linear correlation of temperature and mechanical strain on the fiber optic:
We have leveraged the large data transmission capacity of standard telecommunication fiber optics to develop the core technology for multi-parameter and multi-point sensing for industrial applications. The technology converts standard telecommunication fibers into a network of fiber optic sensors capable of creating real-time and three-dimensional map of measurement data including pressure, temperature, vibration, strain, humidity, and chemical properties. The fiber optic sensor hardware is based on the seamless integration of high-purity glass optical fibers and high grade alloys and polymers to develop sensing products for harsh or unconventional environments characterized by electromagnetic noise, high temperature and pressure, radioactive radiation, and corrosive chemicals. AOMS sensing platform is equipped with advanced opto-electronic systems, known as ODAQ™ (Optical Data Acquisition), to demodulate optical waves and generate over 10,000 data points per sampling instance at a configurable data acquisition frequency ranging from 0.5 Hz to 1MHz. By collecting multi-parameter data at different sampling frequencies and from different locations, AOMS sensing platform is well capable of creating a multi-dimensional measurement data structure.