Game Changers Lunchtime Technology webinar

Detecting hydrogen at range – Dr David Stothard, Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics

The generation of hydrogen through corrosion or radiolysis is a common phenomenon encountered across Sellafield and can be thought of as a concern or a useful mechanism to monitor the condition of an asset.  In either case, it is highly advantageous to detect over extended ranges, without needing to directly deploy instruments in difficult to reach areas.

In this talk, David will present a standalone remote hydrogen detection system which is capable of measuring hydrogen down to a concentration of 0.05%, over distances between 0.1 to 100m.  Recently tested in a successful active deployment, Fraunhofer’s system uses only light to make measurements meaning that hydrogen can be detected without placing operators or instruments in sensitive or hazardous areas.

Extending the life of battery powered sensors – Professor Bernard Stark, Sensor Driven

Traditional sensors constantly use battery power, regularly sleeping, waking and measuring when often there is nothing of interest to measure. This typically limits battery lifetime to a few years.

Sensor Driven have developed unique microchips that can extend battery lifetime to decades using minuscule amounts of energy directly from transducer signals, or from leakage currents, to wake up the measuring electronics and take a reading.

In this talk, Bernard will show how this new technology can be used to monitor important information relating to movement, moisture, temperature, noise and more, and present results from recent radiation testing.  Considerably extended battery life may have significant potential for Sellafield where sensors need to be used in difficult to reach areas and challenging environments.