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A Spatially Distributed Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensor For Applications In The Steel Industry, Muhammad Roman, Damilola Balogun, Yiyang Zuang, Rex E. Gerald Ii, Laura Bartlett, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jie Huang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a spatially distributed fiber-optic sensor system designed for demanding applications, like temperature measurements in the steel industry. The sensor system employed optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) to interrogate Rayleigh backscattering signals in single-mode optical fibers. Temperature measurements employing the OFDR system were compared with conventional thermocouple measurements, accentuating the spatially distributed sensing capability of the fiber-optic system. Experiments were designed and conducted to test the spatial thermal mapping capability of the fiber-optic temperature measurement system. Experimental simulations provided evidence that the optical fiber system could resolve closely spaced temperature features, due to the high spatial resolution and …