Distributed sensing of electromagnetic components using optical fiber based methods

Abstract

An OFDR based fiber-optics sensor for distributed real-time temperature rise monitoring of a transformer in operation has been disclosed. The fiber-optic sensor provides an effective solution to monitoring the physical structures of the transformer core, as well as accurately detecting the non-uniform temperature distribution inside the transformer, and thus provides innovative feedback to the transformer design by minimizing the core losses. Additionally, the method may be responsive to the presence of magnetic and electric fields, as well as responsive to various chemical species. The method allows novel approaches to real-time asset monitoring of power transformers while operational.