Design and Development of an Electro-Optic Type-Flow Transmitter Using Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

The rotameter, the widely used flow meter, is generally used as a local indicator. Therefore, for industrial use, some necessary technique is required to transmit float displacement to remote location. Direct transmission of electrical signal through connecting wires is generally prohibited in an inflammable region. In this paper, an electro-optic system is developed using a modified inductive-type rotameter, which produces an electrical signal according to float movement of the rotameter. The electrical signal is then converted into an optical signal using the Mach-Zhender interferometer. Necessary equations along with the developed theory of operation are presented in this paper. An experiment is performed on the proposed transmitter and the experimental and simulation results are reported in this paper. Very good linearity and repeatability with a very small uncertainty in the measurement of the transducer characteristic have been observed. The graphical abstract is shown.