Toward gamma ray immune fibre-optic phosphor thermometry for nuclear decommissioning
Toward gamma ray immune fibre-optic phosphor thermometry for nuclear decommissioning
Temperature measurement of stored nuclear waste is important for long-term monitoring. Conventional sensors can degrade in ionizing radiation from induced transmutations and their frequent replacement is inconvenient. A thermometer based on suitable phosphors can overcome some problems, but the optical signal needs to be transmitted through an optical fibre and processed remotely away from the dangerous area. This requires that the optical fibre itself be suitably resistant to radiation-induced damage. Here, we report transmission measurements through a type of hollow-core fibre based on anti-resonance and with transmission windows at wavelengths suitable for use with the thermographic phosphor magnesium fluorogermanate whilst subjected to gamma radiation. Its performance is compared to commercially available standard fibres (single mode and radiation hard fibres) at dose rates equivalent to decades of use in a storage facility. Transmission was unchanged for the anti-resonant fibre at the phosphor emission wavelength and it was successfully incorporated into a fibre thermometer that worked from 20ºC to 200ºC. Performance at the phosphor excitation wavelength needs to be improved by modification to the hollow-core fibre design, but we show that a hybrid of single mode and anti-resonant fibres can already be made into a thermometer with suitable gamma immunity.
Anti-resonance, Hollow-core fibre, Nuclear waste storage, Phosphor ratio thermometry, Radiation-induced damage
Pisani, Nicolò
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Numkam Fokoua, Eric
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Davidson, Ian A.K.
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Poletti, Francesco
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Slavík, Radan
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Lowe, Dave
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Machin, Graham
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Sutton, Gavin
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29 January 2022
Pisani, Nicolò
8a5f276f-af79-4661-b4e5-fbcdc70e0aa0
Numkam Fokoua, Eric
6d9f7e50-dc3b-440a-a0b9-f4a08dd02ccd
Davidson, Ian A.K.
b685f949-e9e4-4e6b-9a59-36739de06a61
Poletti, Francesco
9adcef99-5558-4644-96d7-ce24b5897491
Slavík, Radan
2591726a-ecc0-4d1a-8e1d-4d0fd8da8f7d
Lowe, Dave
a6903e26-af2d-41ee-b4f3-9c00577f5a59
Machin, Graham
084fb72d-46de-4226-9e45-01cb68cf871c
Sutton, Gavin
a67cb1ea-1236-4387-a3e1-d1a7dd28c96c
Pisani, Nicolò, Numkam Fokoua, Eric, Davidson, Ian A.K., Poletti, Francesco, Slavík, Radan, Lowe, Dave, Machin, Graham and Sutton, Gavin
(2022)
Toward gamma ray immune fibre-optic phosphor thermometry for nuclear decommissioning.
International Journal of Thermophysics, 43 (4), [47].
(doi:10.1007/s10765-021-02964-0).
Abstract
Temperature measurement of stored nuclear waste is important for long-term monitoring. Conventional sensors can degrade in ionizing radiation from induced transmutations and their frequent replacement is inconvenient. A thermometer based on suitable phosphors can overcome some problems, but the optical signal needs to be transmitted through an optical fibre and processed remotely away from the dangerous area. This requires that the optical fibre itself be suitably resistant to radiation-induced damage. Here, we report transmission measurements through a type of hollow-core fibre based on anti-resonance and with transmission windows at wavelengths suitable for use with the thermographic phosphor magnesium fluorogermanate whilst subjected to gamma radiation. Its performance is compared to commercially available standard fibres (single mode and radiation hard fibres) at dose rates equivalent to decades of use in a storage facility. Transmission was unchanged for the anti-resonant fibre at the phosphor emission wavelength and it was successfully incorporated into a fibre thermometer that worked from 20ºC to 200ºC. Performance at the phosphor excitation wavelength needs to be improved by modification to the hollow-core fibre design, but we show that a hybrid of single mode and anti-resonant fibres can already be made into a thermometer with suitable gamma immunity.
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Pisani2022_Article_TowardGammaRayImmuneFibre-Opti
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 December 2021
Published date: 29 January 2022
Additional Information:
This project has received funding from the EMPIR programme co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Number 17IND04). This work was part funded by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through the UK’s National Measurement System programmes. The authors acknowledge Dr Kerrianne Harrington, Michael Homer and Dr Aldo Mendieta for their help and contributions.
Keywords:
Anti-resonance, Hollow-core fibre, Nuclear waste storage, Phosphor ratio thermometry, Radiation-induced damage
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 456627
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/456627
ISSN: 0195-928X
PURE UUID: 92e91a0e-0844-429d-8907-b6d7c7c4ad09
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Date deposited: 05 May 2022 16:57
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:25
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Contributors
Author:
Nicolò Pisani
Author:
Eric Numkam Fokoua
Author:
Ian A.K. Davidson
Author:
Francesco Poletti
Author:
Radan Slavík
Author:
Dave Lowe
Author:
Graham Machin
Author:
Gavin Sutton
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