New Optical Sensor Suite for Ultrahigh Temperature Fossil Fuel Applications;Semiannual Technical Progress Report

摘要

Accomplishments during the first six months of a program to develop and demonstrate technology for the instrumentation of advanced power plants are described. Engineers from Prime Research, LC and Babcock and Wilcox Research Center collaborated to generate a list of potential applications for robust photonic sensors in existing and future boiler plants. From that list, three applications were identified as primary candidates for initial development and demonstration of high-temperature sensors in an ultra supercritical power plant. In addition, progress was made in the development of materials and methods to apply high-temperature optical claddings to sapphire fibers, in order to improve their optical wave guiding properties so that they can be used in the design and fabrication of high-temperature sensors. Through refinements in the processing steps, the quality of the interface between core and cladding of the fibers was improved, which is expected to reduce scattering and attenuation in the fibers.