Fully Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing (Brillouin)
Solutions Oil & Gas, Energy, Mining Pipeline Strain Monitoring
Fully Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing (Brillouin)
A distributed system will provide an equivalent of a discrete sensor for every meter of fibre installed. Distributed strain monitoring allows for continuous sensing along 10’s of kilometers of a loop of single mode optical fibre. The ends of the fibre are terminated at the input and output ports of a Brillouin Optical Frequency Domain Interrogator, the optical pulse is generated at the interrogator and analyzed upon its return.
Weir-Jones utilises a Brillouin Optical Interrogator manufactured by fibrisTerre of Germany. More information regarding their technology can be found on their website http://www.fibristerre.de/
The tight fibre, shown below, is coupled to the protective jacket and thus to the surrounding ground, allowing for strain transfer of up to ± 3% (±30,000µε) from the medium in which it is installed. Due to the cost of the monitoring equipment, systems tend to only be cost effective at large monitoring lengths (>1km) and several hundred measuring points.
Source: Brugg Cables Direct Burial Fibre Optic Line
Advantages/Disadvantages Fully Distributed Brillouin Sensing: