Low-cost FBG interrogator for dynamic measurements

FBG interrogator for dynamic measurementsFiber Bragg grating technology (FBG technology) offers fiber optic sensors that allow carrying out the measurement of such parameters like temperature and/or mechanical strain. However, the high cost of fiber sensing systems is considered to be a major disadvantage for commercial applications.

It should be noted that the popularity and fast growth of fiber optic technology for sensing applications promote numerous research in various areas, for example, industry, medicine, aerospace, civil applications where such physical and chemicals factors as acceleration, level, temperature, strain, pressure, deformation, refractive index play a very important role.

Optical fiber sensors are perfect for use in the mentioned measurements. Fiber optic technology offers numerous benefits that include “intrinsic safety, resistance to chemical corrosion, immunity to electromagnetic interference, electric isolation, compact size, lightweight sensing heads, high resolution, easy multiplexing, and capability for extremely remote monitoring without the need of electrical power at the measuring point”.

Moreover, fiber Bragg gratings are the most used technology for the measurement of temperature and/or mechanical strain parameters among other optical fiber sensors. To be more precise, the term “fiber Bragg gratings defines as nanometer periodical refractive index changes engraved in an optical fiber core.” 

The principle of FBG technology operation is based on the injection of a broadband light spectrum in the optical fiber. Herewith, there is a concentration of the reflected spectrum at the fiber Bragg grating wavelength, herewith, it is possible to see a suppression in the transmitted signal at the same wavelength.

Additionally, the same operation principle of the FBG technology is used in new and more complex structures, for example, planar FBG sensors. Thus, the FBGs offer very precise measurements due to the wavelength that is considered to be a permanent feature of the signal along the optical fibers

Nevertheless, the FBG interrogators have some challenges in large commercial applications because of their high cost. That is why the development of new, low-cost alternatives to the current FBG interrogators is highly required. Therefore, there are several solutions to the present problem.

One of the solutions is the use of frequency-to-amplitude conversion (a fast and low-cost FBG interrogation technology), in which the spectral variations of fiber Bragg gratings are straightforwardly transmitted into optical power variations. Herewith, the presented FBG technology is based on the twist between both the FBG sensors and the edge filter spectra.                            

Optromix is a manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market. The company provides the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for the clients. Optromix produces a wide range of fiber optic devices, including cutting-edge customized fiber optic Bragg grating product line and fiber Bragg grating sensor systems. Moreover, Optromix is a top choice among the manufacturers of fiber Bragg grating monitoring systems. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@optromix.com

Absolutely new optical gauge allows cutting well surveillance costs

FBG sensors for optical gaugeFiber optic technology is highly promising now, in spite of the fact that fiber optic solutions found their place in numerous fields of application, the optical fiber sphere still continues developing. Thus, recently a group of researchers from the UK demonstrated a novel optical pressure-temperature gauge of compact size.

The optical gauge is considered to enlarge the fiber optic application, especially when it comes to a well surveillance area. Moreover, this optical device allows cutting all the costs and offering a new alternative to conventional downhole fiber sensors and other electronic logging tools.

Also, it should be mentioned that it is possible to combine the optical gauge with other devices, for example, with a simple deployment mechanism and distributed sensing technology, adding new properties and offering savings of 50-90% compared to traditional logging techniques.

A fiber optic gauge is a special tool that is based on fiber Bragg gratings without using electronics, external connections, or power supply equipment. Herewith, optical gauges provide the following advantages that include:

  • Immunity to electromagnetic fields;
  • Potential application in highly explosive environments;
  • Ability to withstand high vibration loads without any mechanical failure of sensor material;
  • Reduced number of connection lines and consequently, less impact on test purposes;
  • Low interconnection is required because of the possibility to include numerous sensors with different fiber Bragg grating wavelengths in one optical fiber.

The novel optical gauge can be installed in the fiber optic line and used in harsh atmospheres. Moreover, this fiber optic device is able to measure up to 10,000 psi (689 bar) and 150°C (302°F), optionally enlarged to 20,000 psi (1,379 bar) and 300°C (572°F).

Herein, the size of the optical gauge is about 10 cu mm, that is why the device can be easily implemented in various optical sensors and even installed in narrow access wells to log data during descent and to capture bottom hole temperature and pressure over time.

Finally, the optical pressure-temperature gauge is able to operate several months without human control, streaming real-time, live well information along with the optical fiber back to the surface. Usually, fiber optic sensors are applied in complex surveillance systems that have a high cost, sometimes they need either batteries or electrical power as well as special equipment compared to the novel optical gauges. Nevertheless, FBG sensors remain number one in the market today due to their lightweight, simple installation and relatively low cost.

If you want to obtain a highly efficient sensing system, you should choose the Optromix company. Optromix is a manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market. The company provides the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for monitoring worldwide. Optromix is a fast-growing vendor of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products line such as fiber Bragg grating sensors, FBG interrogators and multiplexers, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) systems, distributed temperature sensing (DTS) systems. If you are interested in FBG sensors and want to learn more, please contact us at info@optromix.com

Quasi-distributed fiber optic sensor based on fiber Bragg gratings

Quasi-distributed FBG sensorsAt the present time distributed optical fiber sensors based on Raman, Brillouin, and Rayleigh scattering play a crucial role in the area of monitoring due to their ability to measure strain or temperature distributions. Nevertheless, weak signals within optical fibers cause numerous challenges, such as limited spatial resolution, low measurement speed, high system complexity, or high cost of the system. That is why new technology that replaces the previous one and is called a quasi-distributed fiber optic sensing based on fiber Bragg gratings is developed now.

The fact is that over the last decades, fiber optic sensors have become one of the fastest-growing and promising areas of modern sensing technologies. Thus, distributed fiber optic sensing has been successfully employed in numerous strain- or temperature-sensing applications because of the multiple benefits of many sensing points and a long sensing range. Nevertheless, weak signals create new difficulties in the monitoring process.

The use of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors is the only solution to the problem because FBG sensors have stronger reflection signals within an optical fiber. As a result, it is possible to use the technology for obtaining numerous physical and chemical parameters from discretized local points of a few millimeters along with a single optical fiber. Moreover, these fiber optic sensors based on fiber Bragg grating can be easily multiplexed for assurance of high measurement speeds.

Unfortunately, at the moment fiber Bragg grating sensors have several drawbacks. The first is the limit of fiber optic sensors for FBG interrogation systems based on multiplexing. Thus, the maximum available number of sensors is considered to be a few tens or less. The second drawback of FBG sensors is the relatively high cost of the writing of periodic grating that is needful for the assurance of high reflectivity at different Bragg wavelengths. This is the reason why fiber optic sensors based on fiber Bragg grating are not suitable for mass production.

Herewith, a novel real-time quasi-distributed fiber optic sensor with weak fiber Bragg gratings allows increasing the number of FBG sensors up to 31 for the successful and efficient process of interrogation. Such a system does not require special maintenance, has a long lifetime because its most components are optical fibers and semiconductor tools that can be easily found in the optical industry.

Finally, this FBG system offers the following advantages that can find numerous applications in the near future:

  • high linearity;
  • high speed;
  • high stability against harsh environmental factors such as vibration, temperature, and humidity.

Optromix is a manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market. The company provides the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for the clients. Optromix produces a wide range of fiber optic devices, including cutting-edge customized fiber optic Bragg grating product line and fiber Bragg grating sensor systems. Moreover, Optromix is a top choice among the manufacturers of fiber Bragg grating monitoring systems. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@optromix.com

New long-gauge FBG sensor allows detecting corrosion damage

FBG sensors for corrosion detectionNowadays the process of main steel reinforcement corrosion is one of the most frequent problems that evokes structural deterioration and reduces its durability. However, the development of a new kind of long-gauge fiber Bragg grating sensor enables us to detect and quantify corrosion damage via a two-level strategy.

The main advantage of the novel long-gauge FBG sensor compared with the conventional strain sensors is the possibility to use it for both local and global structural monitoring. The principle of FBG technology operation is based on the measurement of the averaged strain within a long gauge length.

It should be noted that the new FBG system is based on the dynamic macro strain responses of FBG sensors. The technology of the strain flexibility detects the location of the corrosion process, and then it quantifies the corrosion by analyzing the sensitivity of strain flexibility.

Moreover, the technology of fiber Bragg grating sensors provides the following benefit that lies in highly accurate and effective corrosion quantification that is possible to be performed in a reduced domain. Herewith, the FBG sensing system has shown great results while testing in the marine environment.

The FBG technology is highly effective in the detection of structural corrosion, but unfortunately, fails to determine the corrosion process unless the apparatus covers the corroded part. Nevertheless, the FBG-based strain sensor remains the most popular due to the use of small, lightweight optical fibers that allow being easily attached to the surface of any steel reinforcement.

The main difference between the new fiber Bragg grating sensors and traditional ones is that civil structures with a large scale and complex shapes very often contain a high quantity of unknown factors that make the process of analysis slower and more complicated. Also, compared to long-gauge FBG sensors, most damage detection techniques are able to detect damage, but can not quantify the severity.

Thus, the distributed long-gauge fiber Bragg grating sensor is a very promising technology for the efficient and precise location of the corrosion damage and further structural long-term performance estimation. Herein, researchers have developed a step-by-step strategy that would help to detect and quantify the process of corrosion, and even proved it by a solid theoretical basis.

Finally, the novel two-level corrosion detection by the FBG sensing system provides a decisive superiority because the corrosion detection significantly reduces the number of unknown factors in the sensitivity equations and increases the success of the corrosion quantification.

Optromix is a fast-growing vendor of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products line such as fiber Bragg grating sensors, FBG interrogators and multiplexers, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) systems, Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS)systems. The company creates and supplies a broad variety of fiber optic solutions for monitoring worldwide. If you are interested in FBG sensors and want to learn more, please contact us at info@optromix.com

FBG sensors for monitoring of overhead transmission systems

FBG sensors for transmission system monitoringNow it is highly important for the industrial sphere to have the ability of overhead transmission systems monitoring technology with the aim of potential error identification that can touch vital components.  The main reason for severe mechanical errors is different in extreme situations. Consequently, the monitoring system of excessive mechanical and environmental loadings is the only significant solution to find and prevent potential risks.

The fact is that there are numerous factors that can occur in overhead transmission systems and cause different loadings. For example, the loading conditions include:

  • excessive bending;
  • aeolian vibrations;
  • galloping;
  • ice loading and shedding;
  • the impact from falling objects;
  • hot spots;
  • aging;
  • galvanic corrosion, and others.

Herewith, these factors could severely damage the structural integrity of the conductors but for fiber Bragg gratings sensors for transmission monitoring.

Thus, a novel composite based overhead transmission lines were designed in response to the world’s increasing level of electrical consumption. Moreover, these FBG conductors are able to maintain severe environmental conditions, and they are considered to have a high period of service that can last for many decades.

It should be mentioned that previous monitoring systems of transmission lines were very difficult or even sometimes impossible process. Nowadays modern monitoring technology allows reducing costs on maintenance and inspection, and it is also able to make life predictions of the transmission systems.

This monitoring system uses optical sensing technology in high voltage environments whose main benefit is the immunity to electromagnetic interference and low signal weakening that make the system ideal for power transmission structures.

Also, FBG sensors include conventional single-mode optical fiber that enables to measure temperature and strain of live lines in-service. Herewith, the process of monitoring can be made from miles away without conductive materials. The data obtained by strain signals processing from static and dynamic loads can be used for the detection of conditions that can affect the conductors.

The application of FBG monitoring technology also includes the assessment of the structural system health as well as the identification of the impact location relative to the position of FBG sensors along the conductor. Finally, the development of an FBG monitoring system will provide better control and maintenance procedures for the conductors of different types.

Optromix is a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products manufacturer that offers FBG sensors, FBG interrogators and multiplexers, DAS systems, DTS systems. Optromix creates and supplies a broad variety of fiber optic solutions for monitoring worldwide. If you have questions or would like to buy FBG products, please contact us at info@optromix.com

FBG biosensor is able to detect thrombin in human blood

FBG sensors for thrombin detectionThrombin plays a very important role in normal and pathological blood coagulation because its high level is an indication of tumor cell presence. Also, the level of thrombin is growing while atherosclerosis, thromboembolic disease, cancer, and inflammatory disease. Thus, its clinical importance provokes the development of devices for fast and precise thrombin detection and most of them are based on aptamers.

One of the ways to solve the problem is the use of optical-fiber grating-based sensors that have a great range of advantages:

  • high level of sensitivity;
  • multiplexing ability;
  • compact size;
  • lightweight;
  • possibility of multi-modal sensing;
  • tolerance to electromagnetic interference;
  • low manufacturing cost.

All FBG sensors are based on different operation principles. There are LPG, etched fiber Bragg gratings, tilted FBG, microstructured Bragg gratings, photonic crystal fibers, or PCF. Nowadays the development of these types of sensors, especially, those which can detect thrombin, is the primary objective.

Etched fiber Bragg grating (EFBG) is one of them, its manufacturing is highly simple and fast because it has chemical etching liquids (for example, hydrofluoric acid) that are able to take away the cladding very quick at a controlled rate. Also, EFBG differs from core-exposed micromachined gratings by the absence of a laser micromachining station that makes the process of fabrication harder.

In spite of the fact that etched fiber Bragg gratings sensors have less sensitivity than in other types, there are numerous advantages over these sensing devices. For example, EFBG systems obtain simple adjustability of their sensitivity. Moreover, there is no need for a polarization control because etched Bragg gratings measure reflection.

This optical-fiber grating-based sensing system operates with a wavelength of 1550 nm, uses hydrofluoric acid as etching fluid for approximately 27 minutes. It is able to detect thrombin in concentrations ranging from 10 nM to 80 nM and the use of EFBG has a promising future as the manufacture of FBG biosensors needs only chemical etching, also it is simple and less expensive than other types of sensing systems. Moreover, etching fiber Bragg grating sensors are easy for multiplexing and, consequently, can be used in vivo. Finally, all the advantages expand the opportunities for thrombin detection.

Optromix is a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products manufacturer that offers FBG sensors, FBG interrogators and multiplexers, DAS systems, DTS systems. Optromix creates and supplies a broad variety of fiber optic solutions for monitoring worldwide. If you have questions or would like to buy FBG products, please contact us at info@optromix.com

Fiber Optic Sensing: Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Interrogation Systems

FBG sensors for interrogation systemsFBG sensor interrogator systems can be deployed into a variety of fields. These products feature high reliability, advanced command and data output control, and incredible speed and sensing range.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been well known and widely used for around 20 years for the following reasons: they are light, compact, easy to install, require very low maintenance, can be used in highly explosive atmospheres, and are immune to electromagnetic interference. Fiber optic sensors have a wide range of possible applications, which include temperature sensing, strain and bending measurements, medium refractive index measurement.

Despite numerous advantages of fiber optic sensors, it is important to install an FBG interrogator to retrieve accurate data and measurements from the sensors. Here is the main principle of how the fiber optic interrogator works: after the light has been sent into the fiber and has been reflected from the FBG, it travels to the interrogator – it’s photodetectors – which then compares it to the wavelength reference artifacts; after that, the interrogator determines the position of the FBG center wavelength. This information is later converted to some measurement units.

There are multiple types of FBG interrogators; each type offers different advantages over others, for example, the number of optical channels and Wavelength range. For example, high-frequency FBG interrogators provide an opportunity to work with dozens of fiber optic sensors at high speed. This characteristic also provides an opportunity to use multiple fiber optic interrogators at once.

The wavelength range of the FBG interrogator plays an important role when it comes to how many wavelengths or bandwidth information from an FBG sensor it can process. Some FBG interrogators have a very limited wavelength range, only around a few nm, however, this is not ideal for most FBG systems. The broad wavelength range of the interrogator provides better measurements.

Another important characteristic of FBG interrogator is the number of optical channels. Each channel represents an optical line, therefore, the bigger the number of optical channels, the more optic lines the interrogator can handle at once. Most interrogators have one optical channel and dedicated to one particular optic line.

Other approaches to FBG sensor interrogating, some of which include:

  1. Broadband source, Dispersive element, Diode Array;

This method is less reliable than the aforementioned ones due to limited resolution, which is a result of the inherent limitations of commercially available diodes.

2.Broadband source, Optical Spectrum Analyzer/Multi-line wavelength meter;

optical spectrum analyzers are large and expensive, which makes them less desirable in a laboratory setting. They are also not able to perform optimally under some temperatures.

3.OTDR/TDM systems;

The system cannot handle a large number of sensors on the fiber as its data acquisition rates scale down with increasing sensor counts.

4.External Cavity Tunable Laser, Power Meter, Wavelength Meter;

External cavity tunable lasers have low speed and do not have a wide operating temperature range. Moreover, they are expensive and do not have the required mechanical robustness.

Optromix interrogators can control up to 8 optical channels. The interrogator operates with the 20 maximum sensors per channel. The device is controlled by the PC with the specialized software for sensors monitoring. The system contains a broadband source of radiation and it can carry out spectrum analysis.

Optromix, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market, based in Cambridge, MA. Our team always strives to provide the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for our clients. Our main goal is to deliver the best quality fiber optic products to our clients. We produce a wide range of fiber optic devices, including our cutting-edge customized fiber optic Bragg grating product line and fiber Bragg grating sensor systems. Optromix, Inc. is a top choice among the manufacturers of fiber optic devices.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@optromix.com

 

 

 

 

New Types of In-Body Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors for Biomedical Research and Treatments

FBG sensors for biomedical researchThis year, for the first time ever, scientists have fabricated sensing elements known as fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inside fiber optic products designed to dissolve completely inside the body. Such bioresorbable fiber Bragg gratings could be used for in-body monitoring of bone fracture healing and for safer exploration of sensitive organs such as the brain. FBGs are optical elements which inscribed in optical fibers. Fiber Bragg gratings are commonly used for applications such as structural health monitoring of bridges or tracking the integrity of airplane wings. FBGs didn’t exhibit characteristics preferred for use in the body until now. According to the researchers, such new fibers should be safe for patient’s health even if they accidentally break, because these fibers have a design that allows them to break down similarly to dissolvable stitches. These fiber Bragg grating sensors don’t need to be removed after use and would enable new ways to perform efficient treatments and diagnoses in the body. New fibers have a diameter twice as that of human hair. They have the ability to dissolve into solutions with temperature and pH resembling those of the human body, within typical times that span between several hours and a few days.

The new bioresorbable optical fiber Bragg gratings could be used to sense pressure at joints or act as tiny probes that can safely reach and assess the heart and other delicate organs. In addition to this, these fiber Bragg grating sensors could simultaneously deliver the laser beam and provide the accurate real-time temperature sensing necessary to monitor the laser ablation process. In other words, this new ability can be used for improving the laser-based techniques for removing tumors. On the basis of the new aforementioned applications of fiber Bragg gratings, a variety of types of interconnected structures in or on bioresorbable optical fibers can be created over the next years. It will allow a wide range of sensing and biochemical analysis techniques to be performed inside the body.

The researchers developed a special type of glass made of phosphorous oxide combined with oxides of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and silicon to create optical fiber Bragg grating sensors that could be safely used in the body. Such glass combines excellent optical properties with biocompatibility and water solubility. The properties of the optical fibers can be tuned by properly changing the glass composition.

A type of grating known as tilted optical fiber Bragg grating allows some of the reflected light to escape from the fiber core and enter into the surrounding cladding. Tilted gratings are often used for sensing because changes on the fiber cylindrical surface modify the back-reflected light in a way that can be monitored. Scientists and engineers created both tilted and standard optical fiber Bragg gratings to understand how the parameters used for inscription affected the grating sensing characteristics. Nowadays the researchers are performing systematic experiments to better understand how the fiber composition and ultraviolet laser irradiation conditions affect the speed at which the fiber Bragg grating dissolves. The dissolving and sensing properties of the fiber Bragg gratings will need to be studied in animals before being used in people.

Optromix, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market, based in Cambridge, MA. Our team always strives to provide the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for our clients. Our main goal is to deliver the best quality fiber optic products to our clients. We produce a wide range of fiber optic devices, including our cutting-edge customized fiber optic Bragg grating product line and fiber Bragg grating sensor systems. Optromix, Inc. is a top choice among the manufacturers of fiber optic devices.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@optromix.com

Pressure measurement with fiber Bragg grating sensors

FBG sensors for pressure measurementThe pressure is one of the most physical parameters in a process industry, but traditional pressure sensors, mostly based on electrical strain gauge, vibration wire, mechanics, and suchlike are unable to adapt to the harsh environment and online monitoring at a long distance. Due to fiber Bragg grating sensors have become an important researching direction. An increasing interest in global industries towards the application of optical fiber sensor has brought to the rapid development in the monitoring of temperature and strain. Fiber Bragg grating products have a number of advantages such as relatively small size and long lifespan. Also, fbgs are inexpensive to manufacture, multiplexing ability, self-referencing with a liman response, ease of installation, durability, lightweight, and immune to electromagnetic interference. Sensing processes in extremely harsh environments such as explosive gas exposure setting, high-temperature combustion chamber, and environment which contains high electromagnetic interference are feasible by using fiber Bragg grating sensors due to their passive nature. Naked fiber Bragg grating sensors are fragile, but an approach to encapsulate them could solve the problem by adding carbon fiber for reinforcement and solidified by epoxy resin with encapsulation technique. Such encapsulation technology protects the fiber from the severe environment in mounting processing without influencing the transmission of the strain applied to the fbg.

The fbg pressure sensor presents a key optical fiber sensor technology for the safe operation of different technical products, systems, and technologies. These fbg pressure sensors are widely used in medicine as well as in different experimental, developmental, and diagnostic processes. Designing an intelligent fbg pressure sensor has been a burgeoning trend. Special fbg pressure sensors exist for explosive environments, which present very strict requirements for pressure sensor capsules, electronic systems, and communication interfaces.

The fbg pressure sensor is mainly based on a Bourdon tube with two fbgs bonded on its outside and inside surfaces. The wavelength shift difference of the two fbg is utilized as a pressure sensing signal: the sensitivity is enhanced, and the temperature cross-sensitivity is compensated. The experimental results demonstrate that the fiber Bragg grating pressure sensor possesses good linearity and repeatability with the measurement sensitivity of 1,414 pm/kPa, which is 465 times higher than a bare FBG. Compared to other pressure optical fiber sensor technology, the cost of the fiber Bragg grating sensors is still too high, even though it reduced significantly over the past decade. Such technology performs well, on a lost-per-measurement basis, only when several measurements are multiplexed on the same fiber.

Optromix is a fast-growing vendor of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products line: fiber Bragg grating sensors, FBG interrogators, and multiplexers, Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) systems. We create and supply a broad variety of top-notch fiber optic solutions for the monitoring of various facilities all over the world.

If you are interested in Optromix FBG sensors, please contact us at info@optromix.com

The Growth and Development Prospects of Worldwide Fiber Optic Sensor Market

FBG sensor marketOptical fiber sensors have seen increased acceptance and widespread use in the scientific world in the last few decades. Against the background of other sensor types, fiber Bragg grating sensors have become widely known and popular. Such FBG sensors are able to measure the various parameters of the substances studied in the research of scientists and engineers. These are such parameters as chemical and biological agents, temperature, strain, pressure, and many others. In addition to this, the optical fiber sensor technology and fiber Bragg grating sensors, in general, have the increased flexibility of design to be used as a single point or multipoint arrays. Also, fiber optic systems and devices based on them have their own relatively low cost that makes them available for use in the different fields and industries. However, it is necessary to actively engage with the problems of increasing the FBG sensors’ attractiveness for business.

Nowadays fiber optic sensors markets are in a relatively early development stage so it is difficult to access and forecast with accuracy. Furthermore, the market segments are fragmented due to the variety of sensing applications and industries where they are applied. The global market of the fiber Bragg grating products is primarily composed of three key segments:

  1. sensing devices (bare FBGs for sensing applications, packed FBG sensors, and FBG arrays)
  2. instrumentation (fiber Bragg grating interrogating instruments and related components: multiplexers, switches, data acquisition systems, software, and graphical user interfaces)
  3. system integration and installation (implementation tools for the fiber optic solutions and fiber optic system installations like design, planning, system integration, customer training, service, etc.)

According to the latest data, the worldwide demand for bare and packaged FBGs is more than 10, 000 pieces per year. And besides that, the worldwide demand for FBG arrays is estimated to be between 100s to 1, 000 arrays per year. The combined present global market size of this segment is between $15M to $35M USD a year with an annual growth rate of 15% to 25%. The total market size of all products in the FBGs product line is estimated to be in excess of $50M USD.

Future applications of FBG sensors will possibly develop over time depending on cost reduction and development of specialized and application-specific packaging. It is expected that more conventional and popular applications such as discrete strain and temperature sensing will continue to evolve and acquire greater market shares. Newer applications in chemical, biological, and medical sensing will lead to the creation of a new generation of fiber optic products that will perform specific agent or parameter sensing functions.

In order for fiber optic products to penetrate into mainstream industrial processes,  appropriate transducers must be developed. FBGs must meet such criteria as ecological strength, appropriate sensitivity, and the correct dynamic range. Also, they need to be early replaceable without a description of the FBGs network and adhere to engineering standards, either existing now. One of the most important conditions for the development of the global market of fiber optic products is seamless integration with existing control system architectures.

Optromix, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of innovative fiber optic products for the global market, based in Cambridge, MA. Our team always strives to provide the most technologically advanced fiber optic solutions for our clients. Optromix is a fast-growing vendor of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) products line: fiber Bragg grating sensors, FBG interrogators, and multiplexers, Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) systems. We create and supply a broad variety of top-notch fiber optic solutions for the monitoring of various facilities all over the world. If you would like to purchase FBG sensors, please contact us at info@optromix.com