The EU-funded GASPOF project aims to explore the integration of innovative optical gas sensing nodes into existing fibre-optic networks. The goal is to enable their massive deployment within Europe's telecommunications infrastructure, transforming it into a dual-purpose system that supports both communication and distributed chemical sensing.
Fibre sensor networks offer the unique ability to collect distributed data from areas that are difficult – or even impossible – to access through conventional means. However, current distributed fibre sensing systems are not yet capable of providing chemical information, particularly in detecting and quantifying gases along the length of an optical fibre. This limitation presents a major barrier in numerous fields where sensitive and selective gas concentration measurements are crucial.
The EU-funded GASPOF project aims to overcome this gap by exploring the integration of innovative optical gas sensing nodes into existing fibre-optic networks. The goal is to enable their massive deployment within Europe's telecommunications infrastructure, transforming it into a dual-purpose system that supports both communication and distributed chemical sensing.
Recent advances in optical gas spectroscopy have opened exciting possibilities for remote gas detection, offering improvements in sensitivity, user-friendliness, and miniaturisation. Yet, significant challenges remain before a joint communication-sensing fibre network can be realised.
GASPOF directly addresses these challenges by contributing to the evolution of the optical infrastructure of the future – one in which the communications backbone doubles as a large-scale, multi-parameter environmental sensor. The project focuses on two advanced optical gas sensing methods:
- Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PTS)
- Laser Heterodyne Radiometry (LHR)
Both techniques will be refined and adapted for seamless integration into existing fibre-optic infrastructures.
In parallel, GASPOF will investigate the potential of coherent Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) for distributed gas sensing and develop a low-cost acoustic sensing solution to measure physical parameters such as vibrations alongside gas detection.
To validate the system's functionality and robustness, GASPOF will demonstrate its performance across four real-world application use cases, showcasing how such integrated fibre sensing can revolutionise remote environmental monitoring and safety systems.