Application of Fabry-Perot and fiber Bragg grating pressure sensors to simultaneous measurement of liquid level and specific gravity

An approach is proposed for obtaining simultaneous measurements of the level and specific gravity of a liquid using a dual-pressure-sensor system comprising a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) pressure sensor and a Fabry-Perot (FP) pressure sensor. In the FBG sensor, the pressure is derived from the FBG wavelength shift induced when the sensor is immersed in the liquid. Meanwhile, in the FP sensor, the pressure is calculated from the change in cavity length which takes place when the sensor is immersed. The advantageous concept of the dual-pressure-sensor system is atmospheric pressure compensation. The experimental results show that the FBG and FP pressure sensors have sensitivities of 0.1495 nm/kPa and 0.1569 mu m/kPa, respectively. Analytical formulae are derived for the level and specific gravity of the liquid in terms of the FBG wavelength shift, the change in cavity length, and the vertical separation distance between the two sensors. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.