Improving the Sensitivity of Palladium-Based Fiber Optic Hydrogen Sensors

This paper reports on the sensitivity improvement of palladium (Pd)-based fiber optic hydrogen sensors. The expansion of Pd undergoing hydrogen absorption transduces strain in a suitable sensing element. The sensors reported here are based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors with a Pd foil hydrogen sensing element. The hydrogen sensitivity is dependent upon; strain sensor sensitivity, the Pd body geometry, the volumetric expansion of Pd, and the strain transfer between Pd and the sensor element. We have investigated three options to improve the sensitivity: First, improve the strain transfer by decreasing the bond line thickness with new manufacturing methods. Second, increasing the volumetric expansion by using a Pd silver (Ag) alloy (Pd75/Ag25) foil with increased hydrogen solubility. Third, concentrating the strain of the expanding Pd on an FBG by using a new sensor concept. All sensors were tested in hydrogen concentrations of 2,500, 10,000, and 50,000 ppm at 90 °C and 1060 mbar. Using new manufacturing methods, the strain transfer is improved by up to 72% compared to previously reported sensors and the sensitivity is 0.062 pm/ppm. With the PdAg alloy foil, the sensitivity is amplified by a factor of 17 compared to pure palladium foil sensor and the sensitivity is 0.77 pm/ppm. With the new sensor concept with strain concentration, the signal is amplified by a factor 2.5 compared to sensors without strain concentration and the sensitivity is 0.18 pm/ppm.

[1]  Scott McCulloch,et al.  Palladium-based hydrogen sensing for monitoring of ageing materials , 2005, International Conference on Optical Fibre Sensors.

[2]  Qian Tian,et al.  Extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric optical fiber hydrogen detection system. , 2010, Applied optics.

[3]  G. Ma,et al.  Pd/Ag coated fiber Bragg grating sensor for hydrogen monitoring in power transformers. , 2015, The Review of scientific instruments.

[4]  B. Sutapun,et al.  Pd-coated elastooptic fiber optic Bragg grating sensors for multiplexed hydrogen sensing , 1999 .

[5]  James S. Sirkis,et al.  Characterization of hydrogen sensors based on palladium-electroplated fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) , 1999, Smart Structures.

[6]  J. S. Sirkis,et al.  Hydrogen Sensor Based on Palladium-Attached Fiber Bragg Grating , 1999 .

[7]  H. Brodowsky,et al.  Wasserstoff in Palladium/Silber-Legierungen , 1965 .

[8]  Alex A. Kazemi,et al.  Highly sensitive hydrogen sensors using palladium-coated fiber optics with exposed cores and evanescent field interactions , 1998, Photonics West - Micro and Nano Fabricated Electromechanical and Optical Components.

[9]  M. Debliquy,et al.  Catalytic Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor for Hydrogen Leak Detection in Air , 2008, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[10]  E. Wicke,et al.  Zustandsdiagramm und thermodynamisches Verhalten der Systeme Pd/H2 und Pd/D2 bei normalen Temperaturen; H/D‐Trenneffekte , 1964 .

[11]  Ulrich Banach,et al.  Hydrogen Sensors - A review , 2011 .

[12]  O. Frazao,et al.  A Review of Palladium-Based Fiber-Optic Sensors for Molecular Hydrogen Detection , 2012, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[13]  M. Buric,et al.  Active Fiber Bragg Grating Hydrogen Sensors for All-Temperature Operation , 2007, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[14]  K. Hill,et al.  Fiber Bragg grating technology fundamentals and overview , 1997 .

[15]  H. Brodowsky.  Das System Palladium/Wasserstoff , 1965 .

[16]  M. Duval,et al.  Calculation of DGA Limit Values and Sampling Intervals in Transformers in Service , 2008, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine.

[17]  Minghong Yang,et al.  Greatly etched fiber Bragg grating hydrogen sensor with Pd/Ni composite film as sensing material , 2012 .

[18]  Detlef Stolten,et al.  Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Fundamentals, Technologies and Applications , 2010 .

[19]  C. R. Li,et al.  Dissolved hydrogen detection in power transformer based on etched fiber Bragg grating , 2015, 2015 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC) Proceedings.

[20]  A. Elshabini-Riad,et al.  Modified extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric hydrogen gas sensor , 1994, Proceedings of LEOS'94.

[21]  Minghong Yang,et al.  Optical hydrogen sensor based on etched fiber Bragg grating sputtered with Pd/Ag composite film , 2013 .

[22]  Said Saad,et al.  Hydrogen detection with FBG sensor technology for disaster prevention , 2013 .

[23]  Minghong Yang,et al.  FBG hydrogen sensor based on spiral microstructure ablated by femtosecond laser , 2016 .

[24]  John W. Simons,et al.  Absorption Isotherms of Hydrogen in the α-Phase of the Hydrogen-Palladium System , 1965 .

[25]  H. Bartelt,et al.  H2 Sensing Based on a Pd-Coated Tapered-FBG Fabricated by DUV Femtosecond Laser Technique , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[26]  Paul D. Teal,et al.  Optimizing the sensitivity of palladium based hydrogen sensors , 2018 .

[27]  F. A. Lewis,et al.  The Palladium-Hydrogen System , 1967, Platinum Metals Review.

[28]  Paul D. Teal,et al.  Development of hydrogen sensors based on fiber Bragg grating with a palladium foil for online dissolved gas analysis in transformers , 2017, Optical Metrology.

[29]  Paul D. Teal,et al.  Palladium-Based Hydrogen Sensors Using Fiber Bragg Gratings , 2018, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[30]  Jun Jiang,et al.  Research on High Sensitive D-Shaped FBG Hydrogen Sensors in Power Transformer Oil , 2016, Sensors.

[31]  Ines Latka,et al.  Fiber optic sensors for the monitoring of cryogenic spacecraft tank structures , 2004, Photonics North.

[32]  Nicolas Javahiraly,et al.  Review on hydrogen leak detection: comparison between fiber optic sensors based on different designs with palladium , 2015 .

[33]  James S. Sirkis,et al.  Characterization of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based palladium tube hydrogen sensor , 1999, Smart Structures.

[34]  Bin Liu,et al.  Micro-structured femtosecond laser assisted FBG hydrogen sensor. , 2015, Optics express.

[35]  T. Flanagan,et al.  The volume increase of fcc metals and alloys due to interstitial hydrogen over a wide range of hydrogen contents , 1971 .