Monitoring of Industrial Facilities With Telecom Fiber Optics

Date: 4/26/2019

Time: 06:00 PM

Room: Fifth Avenue

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technologies are able to convert a long stretch of optical fiber into a dense array of sequential strain sensors. While routinely used for oil & gas exploration and perimeter monitoring, the spatial diversity of sensors offered by this technology could potentially be leveraged to complement existing suites of sensors deployed in industrial monitoring applications. We report empirical measurements collected with telecommunications fiber infrastructure serving the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC), a research reactor and processing facility complex at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Analysis of the collected signals reveals features of distinct subsystems supporting primary operations both inside and outside of these facilities. Algorithms enabling online monitoring of the status of identified systems are being developed to demonstrate the potential of DAS to provide local or global real-time state of health assessments in complex operational environments.

Presenting Author: Will Ray

Authors