Contact: Phil Hearn
A Mississippi State research unit is using some tools of the future--fiber optic humidity sensors--to help preserve the nation's past.
The university's Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory--known as DIAL--recently completed a detailed evaluation of the performance of four moisture sensors that underwent long-term testing at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History.
Developed by DIAL research scientists Shiquan Tao and Joe Fanguy, the cost-efficient fiber optic-based optical sensors were installed at the popular Washington, D.C., repository last November in four systems, each with a data logger and commercial moisture sensing system.
DIAL team members conducted moisture tests with one sensor placed in a whale storage annex and another deployed in a photograph storage case, both at the NMNH Support Center, and two sensors placed in a paleo storage facility on the National Mall. Their performance was compared to that of the commercial systems.
"In general, the sensors performed well," said DIAL director John Plodinec. "A few problems were encountered that have now been solved. Initial analyses indicate these sensors will cost about 5 to 10 percent of the cost of conventional systems."
Plodinec said the successful test results, coupled with a marketing study conducted by MSU's College of Business and Industry, will be used to assist in commercializing the DIAL sensor system. The most likely applications of the technology will be to carbon dioxide and natural gas pipelines, he said.
"The stability and accuracy of the sensors during three months of unattended testing period is a great indication of the commercial potential this technology holds," said Fanguy.
Tao said the "advantage of this sensor in the natural gas industry is its intrinsic safety, immunity to electric noise and freedom from chemical interference."
The CBI marketability study found that the DIAL humidity sensors--which utilize evanescent (vanishing) light-scattering technology--are uniquely stable in harsh environments, making them well suited for applications in the oil and gas industry.
"The oil and gas industry has readily adopted fiber optic sensor technology for down-hole well monitoring because these sensors can tolerate the extreme environment that exists in wells," said the report.
The study was conducted by business administration graduate students Daniel Chapman, Leonard Collins, Melody Dubard, Anthony Lowe, and Donald Vowell. They worked under the guidance of Garry D. Smith, professor and head of the department of management and information systems.
Established in 1980, DIAL is a research unit in the Bagley College of Engineering. Located adjacent to campus in the Thad Cochran Research Technology and Economic Development Park, the lab is a national leader in the development of monitoring, testing and control techniques to solve energy, environmental, infrastructure, and industrial problems.
Director Charles Rivenburgh and others in MSU's Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Licensing provide for the identification, protection, marketing, and licensing of intellectual properties developed by faculty, staff and students. They are guided by Public Law 96-517--better known as the Bayh-Dole Act--that stipulates how inventions developed under federal sponsorship must be transferred to the private sector for public benefit.
For more information on the project, telephone Dr. Plodenic at (662) 325-2105.