Applications of fibre optic temperature measurement

Abstract

Temperature measurement is crucial for many industrial processes and monitoring tasks. Most of these measurement tasks can be carried out using conventional electric temperature sensors, but with limitations. Particularly under harsh conditions, fibre optic temperature sensors show their advantages over conventional instrumentation. Three common principles of fibre optic temperature measurement are exemplarily examined: fibre Bragg gratings, Raman scattering and interferometric point sensors. Their working principles along with recent findings and applications of the sensing concepts are presented. So far their application is still limited to niche markets but with decreasing system prices fibre optic temperature sensing has great potential for further growth.