A novel oil level monitoring sensor based on string tilted fiber Bragg grating

Abstract

In this paper, we present a novel oil level monitoring sensor based on string tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG). The measurement range and sensitivity of oil level monitoring can be modulated via changing the length and number of string tilted fiber gratings. The transmission spectrum of string TFBGs immersed in oil changes obviously with the oil level variation. Experiments are conducted on three 2 cm-length serial TFBGs with the same tilted angle of 10o. A sensitivity of 3.28 dB/cm in the string TFBG sensor is achieved with good linearity by means of TFBG spectrum characteristic with peak-low value. The cladding mode transmission power and the amplitude of high order cladding mode resonance are nearly linear to the oil level variation. This kind of sensor is insensitive to temperature and attributed to be employed in extremely harsh environment oil monitoring.