Early Detection of Hydrogen Leakage Using Fiber Optic Hydrogen Sensor Based on WO3-PdPt-Pt Nanocomposite Films
Jixiang Dai, Zhangning Chen, Renjie Yang, Zhouyang Wu, Zhengan Tang, Wenbin Hu, Cheng Cheng, Xuewen Wang, Minghong Yang
Abstract
Quickly detecting hydrogen leakage is crucial to provide early warning for taking emergency measures to avoid personnel casualties and explosion accidents in hydrogen energy fields. Here, a compact optical fiber hydrogen sensing system with high sensitivity and quick response rate is proposed in this work. A laser diode (LD) and two photodetectors (PD) are employed as light source and optical signal transformation devices, respectively. This sensing system employs single-mode optical fiber deposited with WO3-PdPt-Pt nanocomposite film system as sensing element. Under irrigating power of 6 mW, the sensing probe exhibits an ultra-fast response to hydrogen concentrations of 4000 ppm and 10,000 ppm, with response times of 0.44 s and 0.34 s, respectively. In addition, detection limit of 3 ppm can be achieved by using this sensing system. The sensor also shows good repeatability during hydrogen exposure of 3~10,000 ppm, demonstrating its great potential application for hydrogen leakage in hydrogen energy facilities.