Wireless Sensors for In-Situ Dry Cask Storage Monitoring

Embedded sensors are needed to monitor conditions in high-temperature industrial and power generation equipment. Existing sensor technology is limited by electronics and materials used to manufacture the sensors or by interrogation range in these environments. Developing sensors to overcome both temperature and range limitations would improve process control and efficiency by enabling access to data that is currently costly or inaccessible. We will address this problem using low-frequency wireless sensors that are fabricated from high-temperature ceramics. We will incorporate advanced materials to increase the interrogation range and develop sensor data acquisition electronics to utilize these new sensors. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The primary benefit of this technology to the public as a whole lies in the cost savings, energy savings, and reduced carbon footprint that can be gained through increased industrial process efficiency. Because our target market is high-temperature industrial process monitoring, these sensors would permit savings in terms of production time, reduced downtime, and the energy required to maintain the process temperature.