High Temperature Thermal Sensors By University Of Maine

In recent years the power sector has seen a steep rise in demand for power which is making power plant operators to think about various other ways to produce power. A large number of middle range power stations are coming ahead commercially to produce more power in their respective areas, however an efficient thermal monitoring system is what we require to retain the quality of the power that we receive in our homes.

#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit: University Of Maine

It is not long after that PDF has developed a supervisory control system to continuously monitor the health and illness of these power plants that University of Maine (Umaine)  is also trying to UMaine Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Develop Sensors for Power Plant Operations - UMaine News - University of Maine. The University has recently received a grant of $1.2 million to start a project in this regard from Department of Energy. Dept. of energy aims to develop the fossil fuel energy system so as to have zero emission power plants. The department is currently involved in National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Advanced Research (AR) program. It is expected that the goal of zero emission is achieved in near future.

It is not always that these initiatives are taken. Mostly the power sector is observed to be low on innovation and high on production owing to its expanse. However Innovation is easily seen in discovering new sources of energy. The present research focuses on developing auxiliary applications to support and sustain the plant to produce green power by reducing pollution.

In its attempt to develop the new sensor technology, Umaine is planning to partner with an Orono based company Environetix Technologies Corporation which also happens to employ Umaine graduates to develop the controlling system. The technology in question is expected to produce wireless sensors which will be tested in drastic conditions of temperature and pressure. The researchers are trying to implement acoustic sensors for it because they feel that the battery free sensors are the best possible alternative for the current monitoring system. The main utilization of the acoustic system will be in estimating coal utilization and checking/ giving a warning for any inappropriate process happening in the plant. The sensors may also find wide applications in Aviation industry where there are harsh temperature conditions inside an air plane.

However it is not that what Hitachi did may be applicable to Umaine's technology. Hitachi has tried to implement the techniques considering the whole plant, while the one that Umaine is trying to design looks nothing more than a sensor. It will be a matter of speculation, if this project will be fruitful in other power plants of the world, whether they will adopt a similar technology (given the sensors developed will be patent protected) is an important question before the sector. The project by Maine will take help of a decade of research by University's Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST). The project is also partly funded by U.S. Air force.