Distributed fiber optic chemical sensor for hydrogen sulfide and chlorine detection

Fiber optic sensors having their entire length as the sensing elements for chlorine or hydrogen sulfide are reported here. The chlorine fiber consists of a silica core and a chlorine-sensitive cladding, and the hydrogen sulfide fiber has a hydrogen sulfide sensitive cladding. Upon exposure to the corresponding challenge gas, the cladding very rapidly changes color resulting in attenuation of the light throughput of the fiber. A one-meter portion of the chlorine sensor fiber responds to 10 ppm chlorine in 20 seconds and to 1 ppm in several minutes. The attenuation after 10 minutes of exposure is very high, and is dependant on both chlorine concentration and fiber length. A ten-meter portion of the hydrogen sulfide sensor fiber responds to 100 ppm hydrogen sulfide in 30 seconds and to 10 ppm in 1 minute. The high sensitivity suggests that the propagating modes of the light interact strongly with the cladding, and that these interactions are massively increased (Beers Law) due to the extended sensor length. This approach will supersede the current method of having a collection of point-detectors to cover large areas.