Etched fiber bragg gratings sensors for water-ethanol mixtures: a comparative study

In this work is evaluated the performance of etched fiber Bragg gratings, assembled in different configurations to operate as a refractometric sensor, in the analysis of water-ethanol mixtures. Two fiber Bragg gratings operating close to 1300 nm and 1500 nm were wet-etched and employed in the sensor design. Four configurations for the refractometric sensor were studied, in dual-wavelength and single-wavelength operation modes, and at two sample temperatures. Calibration curves were determined for the range between 0.0 and 100.0 % v/v of water in ethanol, and the sensor performance for each configuration was analyzed by comparing its sensitivity, conformity, repeatability and combined uncertainty. The best results showed that the sensor can be used to measure the ethanol-water concentration with combined uncertainty of 2.8 % v/v for the range up to 80.0 % v/v of ethanol concentration and 7.0 % v/v of uncertainty for the range above 80.0 % v/v of ethanol concentration for the single-wavelength operation mode at two temperatures.