Multi-Functional Fiber Optic Fuel Sensor System Having a Photonic Membrane

摘要

A fuel sensing system utilizes a fiber optic sensor comprising a membrane made of a direct band gap semiconductor material (such as gallium arsenide) that forms an optical cavity with an optical fiber inside a hermetically sealed sensor package located at the bottom of a fuel tank. The optical fiber inside the fuel tank is not exposed to the fuel. The optical cavity formed by the bottom surface of the membrane and the surface of the distal end of the internal optical fiber is capable of behaving as a Fabry-Pérot interferometer. Multiple light sources operating at different wavelengths and multiple spectrometers can be coupled to the confronting surface of the membrane via the optical fiber inside the fuel tank, a hermetically sealed fiber optic connector that passes through the wall of the fuel tank, and a fiber optic coupler located outside the fuel tank.

主权项

1. A system for storing a liquid, comprising:
a reservoir comprising an enclosure; a chamber-defining structure disposed inside said enclosure that divides an internal volume of said enclosure into a storage compartment and a chamber which are hermetically sealed from each other, said chamber-defining structure comprising a membrane having a top surface that partly defines said storage compartment and a bottom surface that partly defines said chamber, and a housing that supports said membrane and partly defines said chamber; and an optical fiber having a length disposed inside said chamber, said length of optical fiber having a distal end with a surface that confronts said bottom surface of said membrane with a gap therebetween, wherein said membrane is made of a semiconductor material that has a direct band gap.