Multi-Gap Fabry Perot Fiber Optic Sensor for Real-Time and Cumulative Leak Detection and Quantification

The impact of hydrogen on global greenhouse emissions can become more significant due to hydrogen loss during industrial production, storage, and/or transport. Measurement and quantification of the cumulative amount of hydrogen released into the atmosphere from the existing infrastructure due to leaks is required for accurate climate modeling and analysis, but commercially available technologies are insufficient with respect to real-time and cumulative ppb level hydrogen concentration measurements. Fiber optic Fabry Perot sensing technologies are well-positioned to meet this challenge and provide quasidistributed measurements of the hydrogen that are necessary to minimize any impact on climate change. The overall objective of the proposed Phase I program is to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a fully integrated quasi-distributed sensitive hydrogen sensor capable of both real-time and cumulative H2 concentration measurements. The hydrogen sensing probe will be designed with the versality necessary for use through the hydrogen infrastructure so that it can be monitored remotely at any desired location. : In this Phase I effort, a small business will collaborate with a world-renowned domestic university and photonics research to design and fabricate fiber optic sensing system capable of detecting and quantifying cumulative ppb levels of hydrogen in the atmosphere in real-time. The performance of the prototype optical fiber sensor will be validated via laboratory scale testing to prepare for performance testing in relevant operating conditions at a national laboratory in the Phase II. The ultra-sensitive sensing technique seeks to meet the need for the detection and quantification of hydrogen leaks is essential to safe hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and its use. The real-time and cumulative H2 concentration measurements that the system can provide will provide the data necessary for the accurate models and analyses that will be used by climate scientists will use to evaluate the impact of H2 technologies on climate change. The unique integration of a three-dimensionally interconnected nanoporous glass with well-established and extremely precise fiber optic Fabry Perot interferometric sensor interrogation schemes will serve as a template for the scientific community to develop the next generation of ultra-sensitive gas sensors. As such the technologies developed in this Phase I program could be an asset to ongoing research and development in several federal agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).