A microfabricated fibre optic sensor for methane gas measurement in underground coal mines

Author

Amanzadeh, Mohammad ; Aminossadati, S.M. ; Kizil, M.S. ; Sheridan, E. ; Bowen, W.P.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Mech. & Min. Eng., Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

fYear

2012

fDate

13-16 Dec. 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

The mining industry requires a reliable system to accurately and safely measure methane concentrations at various locations in underground coal mines. This paper aims to investigate the potential for an all-fibre optic based methane sensor. Various types of all-fibre sensors are studied and side drilled hollow core fibres have been experimentally tested. The results show that hollow core fibre has the potential to be developed as a methane sensor and implemented in an underground coal mine environment to accurately and safely measure methane concentrations with acceptable response time and accuracy.

Keywords

chemical variables measurement; coal; fibre optic sensors; gas sensors; microfabrication; microsensors; mining industry; organic compounds; reliability; safety; all-fibre optic based methane sensor; methane concentration measurement; methane gas measurement; microfabricated fibre optic sensor; mining industry; underground coal mines; Absorption; Coal mining; Gas lasers; Laser beams; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Absorption Spectroscopy; Hollow core fibre fabrication; Underground coal mine methane gas sensing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photonics Global Conference (PGC), 2012

Conference_Location

Singapore

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2513-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PGC.2012.6457999

Filename

6457999