Detection of the liquid level in fuel tank becomes a critical element for the safety and efficiency in aerospace operations. Two liquid level sensing techniques are presented in this paper. The first technique is based on optical fiber Long Period Gratings (LPG). In this system, the full length of a specially fabricated fiber is the body of the probe because the length of the sensing fiber that is submerged in the liquid can be detected by the interrogation system. The second system based on Total Internal Reflection (TIR) uses optical fibers to guide light to and from an array of point probes. These probes are specially fabricated, miniature optical components which reflects a substantial amount of light back into the lead fiber when the probe is gas but almost no light when it is in liquid. A detailed theoretical study by computer simulation was carried out on these two techniques in order to determine which technique was more suitable for experimental investigation. The study revealed that although the first technique may provide more potential benefits in terms of weight and easy installation; a number of technical challenges make it not suitable for a short term solution. The second, probe array based technique, on the other hand, is more mature technically. The rest of the research program was therefore focused on the experimental investigation of the probe array detection technique and the test results are presented in this paper.

Date Published: 5 September 2014
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 9202, Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V, 920202 (5 September 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2060300

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9202:
Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V
Alex A. Kazemi; Bernard C. Kress; Edgar A. Mendoza, Editor(s)