Plastic optical fiber sensors applied to electric energy industry

The Photonics and Instrumentation Laboratory (LIF) at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro is a R&D laboratory mainly involved in optical sensors applied to Energy, Oil & Gas and Biotechnology areas. This paper demonstrates some techniques used by LIF to measure, detect and monitor several physical parameters applying plastic optical fiber (POF) either as sensor or as a communication channel for telemetry. The applications to be presented include measurement of electrical current in high voltage, temperature and leakage currents over insulators. We take advantage of the POF for its high insulation property, applying them to measure electrical parameters in high voltage environment. For each example presented, it will be shown the measurement principle, laboratory tests and field application.