Hydrogen Sensing

In a final repository for radioactive waste hydrogen generation e.g. due to corrosion processes must be taken into account.

Thus, monitoring of hydrogen concentration at least during the operational phase of a repository is an important topic. At the time being DBE Technology is developing sensors for hydrogen detection based on the fiber optic technology.

An optical fiber is coated by palladium which is able to absorb hydrogen up to 900 times of its own volume. Due to the expansion of the palladium the optical fiber is strained which, after an suitable calibration, is a measure for the hydrogen contents. The simple sensor design, the possibility of using the same multiplexing techniques as for the other optical systems to measure temperature and mechanical parameters, a couple of such sensors can easily be integrated in an overall fiber optic monitoring network to guarantee operational safety over several decades.