SAWHOT Presentation

Surface Acoustic Wave wireless sensors
for High Operating Temperature environments

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology has been applied for more than 20 years to develop sensors exhibiting unique capabilities with limited ageing effects resulting in long term stability properties.

During the 90s, they have proved their capability to be wirelessly operated without any on-board power supply.

In parallel, the long term development of advanced material, particularly in Russia, has yielded a new class of material, namely Langasite and its variant forms, that can be substituted to quartz and lithium niobate particularly when operating at high temperature.

Our project
Industrial implication
Concept & Project objective(s)
Development

Our project will demonstrate wireless SAW sensors operating in an unprecedented temperature range.

This sets extreme challenges to all parts of the sensor system since the developed wireless system will be suitable to operate in harsh environments.
The great progress brought by the project takes advantage of a consortium involving complementary major academic and industrial actors of SAW-sensor-based systems. This consortium is capable to successfully face the challenges of implementing a whole system, allowing for physical metrology in harsh conditions.

The SAWHOT project consortium is set up on the basis of a bilateral Russian-European partnership generating a unique workforce cooperating within the FP7 framework to address this challenge.

This project includes industrial end users (both European and Russian), in order to implement these high added value systems and assess their technological performance.

Substantial improvements will be provided for sensing physical parameters in a wide temperature range (-20°C to +650°C), in monitoring a Carbon-Nano-Tube (CNT) production process and in other applications...

Significant knowledge will be generated in nano-sciences and nano-technologies linked to SAW physical sensors and materials for industrial applications. Demonstration of the system will be achieved at an industrial level for monitoring physical parameters under high pressures and high temperatures (aside: jet propulsion engins need wireless sensors capable to operate above 600°C - below: MultiWall Carbon NanoTubes -MWCNTS- are produced in a reactor chamber at T>800°C).

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The scope of the SAWHOT project is to develop an innovative wireless system capable to measure physical parameters in a wide range temperature, to push back the known limits of the sensor performances.

This development will be based on SAW sensors elaborated on a specific high quality substrate and fabricated with new nano-manufacturing technologies.

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The development of a piezoelectric Surface Acoustic Wave physical sensor system operating in harsh environment (from –196°C up to more than 650°C) with wireless transmission of sensing energy and read-out signal will be based on the best combination of :

Substrates e.g. high quality single crystal (composition, architecture, production process) capable to operate on an extended temperature range (–200°C/+900°C)
Design and fabrication of the nano-structured SAW sensors
Advanced technologies for manufacturing nanometer sized SAW device parts
Specific packaging and antennas capable to stand long term high temperature conditions
Appropriate choice of the read-out system and interrogation strategy customized for the environment of the applications.

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This project will be managed with 2 levels of risk, depending on the temperature range :

an optimized system able to operate up to 650°C and a challenge to reach a system operating up to 900°C.

At this time, three main applications have been identified:

Monitoring nano-based production process (Carbon NanoTubes production)
Testing gas turbine engine (or fuel cell system)
Monitoring temperature in high voltage connections of feeders (6-200kV) ranging from room conditions up to 300°C and above (thermal power station & power substation)
Outdoor operation of sensors burried in the permafrost

Finally, this project will bring on sustainable high-tech socio economic prospects : new markets and standards, improved cooperation between EU and Russian organizations.