Electricity Over Glass

guddan writes "Running a live wire into a passenger jet's fuel tank seems like a bad idea on the face of it. Still, sensors that monitor the fuel tank have to run on electricity, so aircraft makers previously had little choice. But what if power could be delivered over optical fiber instead of copper wire, without fear of short circuits and sparks? In late May, the big laser and optics company JDS Uniphase Corp., in San Jose, Calif., bought a small Silicon Valley firm with the technology to do just that."

Comments

Is this needed?

[inject_hotmail.com]

"Running a live wire into a passenger jet's fuel tank seems like a bad idea on the face of it. Still, sensors that monitor the fuel tank have to run on electricity, so aircraft makers previously had little choice. But what if power could be delivered over optical fiber instead of copper wire, without fear of short circuits and sparks? In late May, the big laser and optics company JDS Uniphase Corp., in San Jose, Calif., bought a small Silicon Valley firm with the technology to do just that."

What, no one ever heard of vacuum lines? Or maybe pressurized lines? I'm not a rocket scientist, or even a plane scientist, and I could figure that out before I was finished reading the frickin' summary, let alone the frickin' article.

People love to make work for themselves...

Setting that aside, the idea sounds awesome!...what with all the planes we lose every year to short-circuiting wires...BUT, I'll wait to see if this materialized before I get all excited about it.

Re:Is this needed?

[morgan_greywolf]

Who even says that the sensor necessarily needs to be fully electronic? You can have a mechanical piece that sticks in the fuel tank and have an electronic control piece that's outside of the fuel tank. In fact, this is exactly how the gas gauge in your car works. This design has, quite frankly, worked well for decades. Sure there's a few disadvantages, but, uh, who cares?

Re:Is this needed?

[Gregb05]

Not without oxygen it isn't.

Re:Is this needed?

[TheBearBear]

What, no one ever heard of vacuum lines? Or maybe pressurized lines?

I'm no rocket scientist either, and I'm sure that those rocket scientists has already consider those options you've mentioned. Perhaps because it is on an airplane going over 500mph and you have all sorts of physics and temperature considerations that vaccuum/pressurized lines are just not best suited for.

Sounds like a bad idea.

[Jason1729]

But what if power could be delivered over optical fiber instead of copper wire, without fear of short circuits and sparks?

You're stilling bringing as much power into the fuel tank. High-power beams of light aren't any safer, a laser can cut inch thick steel.

At least electricity is very well understood, we know how to insulate the wire, we know how much voltage will spark in a given medium, and the low voltage for sensors is very safe.

High energy lightbeams are not at all well understood. Will the fiber heat up? What about light leakage, will that cause an explosion? What if the fragile fiber breaks while the beam is on?

Re:Sounds like a bad idea.

[Rob the Bold]

And how much power do you need to run a sensor?

Not much, at least compared to what it takes to run a pump motor. And at least jet fuel isn't nearly as volatile as gasoline, which is pumped every day with submersible electric turbine pumps at nearly every gas station in the developed world. It's a PITA to make intrinsically safe electric circuits, but it's well understood and done every day.

The light powered device might be useful in planes if they could achieve the same degree of intrinsic safety at a lower weight.

Re:Sounds like a bad idea.

[TubeSteak]

You're stilling bringing as much power into the fuel tank. High-power beams of light aren't any safer, a laser can cut inch thick steel. Technically, since their solar cell is only 40%-50% efficient, they're pumping in twice as much "power" into the fuel tank. So yes, while there are lasers that can cut steel, there are also lasers that can be safely shined into your eyeball without causing any harm.

About the only valid sentence in your post starts with "electricity is very well understood". The rest of it just reflects your ignorance.

"High energy lightbeams are not at all well understood" by you. Light leakage causing an explosion? Seriously?