COATED FIBER OPTIC ARRAYS SENSORS FOR TOXIC GASES

SENSING OF THE PRESENCE OF WARFARE GASES AND OF ENVIRONMENTAL GASES IS CRITICAL TO MAINTAINING A PROPER WORKING ENVIRONMENT ON SHIPBOARDS AND IN SUBMARINES. PERFECT VIEW INC. AND THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR HAVE DEVELOPED FOR THE U.S. AIR FORCE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS CHEMICAL COATINGS THAT CHANGE THEIR COLOR IN A QUANTITATIVE MANNER WHEN EXPOSED TO WARFARE GASES. SIMILAR CHROMOPHORIC MIXTURES HAVE ALSO BEEN DEVELOPED FOR OTHER GASES, E.G., WATER, AROMATIC AMINES, HYDROGEN SULFIDES, ETC. THE COATINGS DEVELOPED USE A NOVEL PROPRIETARY CATALYTIC CHEMISTRY (PATENT PENDING) THAT ALLOWS THE DETECTION OF SUB-LETHAL CONCENTRATIONS OF GASES LIKE MUSTARDS (MG) AND NERVE GASES (NG) AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE IN A TIMESCALE OF THE ORDER OF 20-40 SECONDS WITH A VERY LOW INTERFERENCE, I.E., WITH A VERY HIGH SELECTIVITY. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE USE OF INTERNALLY-COMPENSATED COATED FIBER OPTIC PAIRS AS MICROSENSORS FOR CONVENTIONAL GASES LIKE CO2, CO, H2O, H2S, ETC., BUT ALSO FOR GASES LIKE MG AND NG USING IRREVERSIBLE BUT VERY SENSITIVE CHROMOPHORIC REACTIONS. BY THE USE OF OUR SPECIFIC KNOW-HOW AND CATALYSTS, WE HAVE PROVED THAT SELECTIVITY MAY BE ACHIEVED BY THE DESIGN OF THE COATING ALONE. THEREFORE, THE UNIQUE FORM OF GAS DETECTOR PROPOSED WILL REQUIRE NO PRISMS, GRATES OR OTHER EXPENSIVE OPTICAL DEVICES THAT REQUIRE PRECISION ALIGNMENT. THUS, THE PROPOSED DETECTOR HAS THE POTENTIAL OF BEING EXTREMELY LOW-COST AS WELL AS ACCURATE AND SELECTIVE. MOREOVER, THE DETECTOR LENDS ITSELF EASILY TO COMPUTERIZED CENTRAL CONTROL AND TO ROUTINE AS WELL AS EMERGENCY WARNING USE. MOST OF THE OPTICS AND ELECTRONICS NEEDED FOR THE DETECTOR CAN BE CONSIDERED KNOWN AND ESTABLISHED TECHNOLOGY. OUR OBJECTIVE IN PHASE I IS TO EXPAND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF COATINGS AND TO INTEGRATE THEM ONTO THE PROPER OPTIC FIBERS AND ELECTRONICS TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED DETECTOR PERFORMANCE.