All-Silicon Carbide Hybrid Wireless-Wired Optics Temperature Sensor Network Basic Design Engineering For Power Plant Gas Turbines

Proposed is a novel design of a fiber-remoted temperature sensor network for operation in the extreme environments of power generation gas turbines. The network utilizes a robust all-Silicon Carbide wireless-wired hybrid temperature probe design that features an all-passive front-end, active laser beam targeting, and the use of an optical wedge that eliminates optical interferometric noise in addition to serving as a partial vacuum window for the probe cavity to minimize laser beam wander due to air turbulence. An example basic network is built at the 1550 nm band using 1 × 2 micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) fiber-optic switches with engineered sensor system robust performance observed at 1000°C using a custom assembled all-SiC probe with a Magnesium Fluoride (MgF2) high temperature window. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC