Design and operation of a fiber optic sensor for liquid level detection

Design and construction of an optical fiber sensor for liquid level detection are reported. This sensor operates based on light intensity modulation, and such modulation results from alteration of total internal reflection into partial reflection at the interface. The modulated intensity has been measured by using a pair of fibers, one transmitting source light, another acting as receiving fiber, and a glass prism providing the total and partial reflections. During the level measurements, when a liquid in a vessel touches the 45degrees faces of the 45-90-45degrees prism, the total internal reflection is disturbed, and the reflected light is modulated. The performance of this sensor is tested with different source lights including a light emitting diode (LED), a diode laser. and a He-Ne laser. Extinction ratio has been measured for different liquids, and compared. This ratio for water using LED source is about 0.03, for diode laser is 0.006 and for He-Ne laser is 0.003. Although this device was tested as a liquid level sensor, but the distinct results obtained for samples with different index of refractions demonstrate that the reported sensor can also be used as a liquid refractometer. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.