TY - JOUR
T1 - SNS optical fiber sensor for direct detection of phase transitions in C18H38 n-alkane material
AU - Han, Wei
AU - Rebow, Marek
AU - Lian, Xiaokang
AU - Liu, Dejun
AU - Farrell, Gerald
AU - Wu, Qiang
AU - Ma, Youqiao
AU - Semenova, Yuliya
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - A single-mode-no-core-single-mode (SNS) fiber optical sensor for the detection of solid-liquid and liquid-solid phase changes in C18H38 n-alkane (n-octadecane) is proposed and demonstrated. The transmission-type sensor probe consists of a short section of no-core fiber sandwiched between two sections of a single-mode fiber. Phase changes in n-octadecane are accompanied by large step-like variations of its refractive index (RI). Such a large discontinuous change of the n-octadecane’s RI during its phase transition leads to the corresponding step-like change in the transmitted optical power that can reliably indicate the phase change of the sample in the vicinity of the sensor. The proposed sensor probe is simple, accurate and is capable of detecting the material’s phase based on a single measurement. The results of this work suggest that the proposed sensor is potentially capable of detecting liquid-solid phase changes in other materials whose thermo-optic properties are similar to those of n-octadecane.
AB - A single-mode-no-core-single-mode (SNS) fiber optical sensor for the detection of solid-liquid and liquid-solid phase changes in C18H38 n-alkane (n-octadecane) is proposed and demonstrated. The transmission-type sensor probe consists of a short section of no-core fiber sandwiched between two sections of a single-mode fiber. Phase changes in n-octadecane are accompanied by large step-like variations of its refractive index (RI). Such a large discontinuous change of the n-octadecane’s RI during its phase transition leads to the corresponding step-like change in the transmitted optical power that can reliably indicate the phase change of the sample in the vicinity of the sensor. The proposed sensor probe is simple, accurate and is capable of detecting the material’s phase based on a single measurement. The results of this work suggest that the proposed sensor is potentially capable of detecting liquid-solid phase changes in other materials whose thermo-optic properties are similar to those of n-octadecane.
KW - Optical fiber sensor
KW - Phase change materials (PCMs)
KW - n-octadecane
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85067674685
U2 - 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2019.109854
DO - 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2019.109854
M3 - Article
SN - 0894-1777
VL - 109
JO - Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science
JF - Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science
M1 - 109854
ER -