Brüel & Kjær licences fibre-optic accelerometers to Smart Fibres

Brüel and Kjær has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with UK Company, Smart Fibres to produce and sell fibre-optic acceleration sensors worldwide.

Fibre-optic Acceleration Sensors

Created in Brüel and Kjær’s R&D laboratory, the SmartAccel-HF is a fibre-optic acceleration sensor suitable for high frequency measurement of small vibrations, making it ideal for condition monitoring of rotating machines such as pumps, turbines, motors and wheeled vehicles. It can be used as part of an integrated fibre-optic system to monitor subsea pumps for the oil and gas industry.

The unique measurement benefits of optical fibre sensing technology include increased tolerance against extreme harsh environments, allowing long-term, sustainable monitoring solutions for a wider range of applications.

CEO of Smart Fibres, Chris Staveley said: "We have already proven the product in oil and gas applications and we are now looking to apply it to our other industry sectors.”

The SmartAccel-HF is a single-axis Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) acceleration sensor. According to Chris: "One of the key advantages of FBG technology is the ability to multiplex numerous sensors of different measure and types on a few optical fibres. Acceleration is one of the most interesting measures for machine health monitoring, so we are delighted that Brüel and Kjær has applied its expertise to develop this product.”

Finn Kryger Nielsen, Brüel & Kjær’s Transducer R&D Manager, said: “Developing this transducer has been a valuable research project that has produced transferable knowledge and expertise in Brüel & Kjær. Now, working together with Smart Fibres, we are excited to see it come into the world.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Smart Fibres will manufacture and sell the product to its customers in the oil and gas business - and other harsh environment industries.

Chris adds: “By bringing the manufacture of the product in-house, we have made acceleration an integral part of our Smart Fibres machine health monitoring solutions."

Smart Fibres considers this the best product available to carry out high speed vibration measurements for condition monitoring of rotating machines, when combined with Smart Fibres’ SmartScan interrogator.

More information about Smart Fibres is available at: http://smartfibres.com