Optical fibre sensors for the monitoring of a microwave plasma UV lamp and ozone generation system

摘要

The food industry is keen to have new techniques that improve the safety and shelf life of food products without the use of preservatives. The use of UV light and ozone (O_3) gas are becoming increasingly popular as methods to decontaminate food and thus extending its shelf life. A microwave radiation device that is a novel source of both germicidal UV and O_3 suitable for the food industry has been developed, which offers speed, cost and energy benefits over existing sources. With this system comes the need to monitor a number of conditions, primarily UV intensity and ozone gas concentrations. An optical fibre sensor system is being developed to analyse these properties, in order to control and optimise the outputs of the microwave plasma UV lamp.