JPS59105533A - Optical device for detecting leakage of oil - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a device capable of detecting leakage of oil without fail by a construction wherein the ends of two optical fibers forming an optical joint are connected to each other in the state wherein a force separating them from each other is applied thereto, by fixing them with a substance which softens or melts when immersed in oil. CONSTITUTION:The ends on one side of two optical fibers 2 and 3 are made to contact with each other oppositely inside a hollow-cylindrical case with an oil inlet 4 formed therein, and simultaneously are fixed in the state in which a spring pressure is applied thereto in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction by a spring material 6, by filling up the case with a substance 7 which is softened or melted by an oil such as paraffin and elastomer. A device 1 thus prepared is disposed in a place where the oil is likely to leak out, and it is monitored at all times or any time whether or not a light applied to the other end of the fiber 2 appears at the other end of the fiber 3. When there is any leak of the oil, the substance 7 is melted or softened to separate the contact parts of said fibers from each other by the action of the spring 6 and thereby to intercept the light. In this way, the device enabling remote monitoring, making an explosion-proof device unnecessary and being free from an electromagnetic induction impediment is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical leakage oil detection device suitable for remote monitoring.

Conventionally, in order to monitor oil leakage from oil storage facilities, etc., a device as shown in Fig. 7 is used, in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element S are connected to the monitoring station through a lead edge and a vertical axis Y. Using oil detection devices that are placed opposite each other at a certain angle θ, when oil O flows down below the detection device, the light from the light emitting element is reflected on the surface of the oil O and is reflected by the light receiving element S. However, the presence of water such as rainwater can cause detection errors as well.

The relationship between supplying the operating voltage by the light-emitting element L lead edge has the problem of requiring an explosion-proof structure, which increases the installation cost.

In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safe optical oil detection device that is not only capable of distinguishing and detecting water and oil, but is also inherently explosion-proof.

That is, the feature of the present invention is that the ends of two optical fibers forming an optical joint are separated from each other by a substance that softens or dissolves when immersed in oil. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the invention will be explained below on the basis of an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 indicates an oil detection device which is a characteristic part of the present invention, and two optical fibers 2 and 2 forming an optical joint. 3 are disposed in a cylindrical case 5 in which an oil inflow hole 4.4 is bored, and the ends are brought into contact with each other, and at the same time, one of these optical fibers 3 is attached to a shaft with a spring member 6. An elastic force is applied in a direction perpendicular to the core direction, and under such conditions,
A polymer substance (hereinafter referred to as an oil softening substance) 7 that dissolves or softens with oil, such as paraffin, rubber, wax, or rubber, is filled in the case 5, and each end of the optical fiber 2.3 is integrally fixed. It is something. In addition.

The reference numeral 8.8 in the figure is a connector fixed to the other end of the two optical fibers 2.3, and is for connecting the transmission optical fibers F and F, each of which has a light emitting element and a light receiving element at one end. .

Next, the operation of the device configured as described above will be explained using an example in which the device is applied to monitor oil leakage at a gas station.

FIG. 3 shows the underground structure of a gas station where the device of the present invention is installed. Below the underground tank 9 and the leak-prone area of the pipe system +1 extending from there to the metering alO, there are
Inspection holes 43.13 communicating with the ground by the vibrator 12 are provided, and the above-mentioned detection device 1 is installed in these inspection holes 13.
is provided, and from here the display of the monitor (Fig. 4) @
Optical fibers F and F for transmission are connected to the light emitting element 14 and the light receiving element S built in.

In the embodiment described above, when light is sent into the detection device l from the light emitting element of the monitor, under normal conditions with no oil leakage, the ends of the optical fibers 2.3 are in contact with each other and the oil is released. Since it is fixed in a softening substance, it is transmitted from one optical fiber to the other optical fiber and sent back to the light receiving element S side of the display panel, so that the normal state can be visually recognized. On the other hand, if oil leaks from the oil supply equipment under such conditions, this oil will flow into the inspection hole 13 and be detected by the detection device 1.
is immersed, enters the interior through the inflow hole 4.4 of the detection device 1, softens or melts the oil softening substance 7, releases the force accumulated in the spring material 6, and forms one side of the optical joint. The optical fiber 3 is pressed and bent to break the contact between the ends of each other and cut off the transmission of light (Fig. 2), and to notify the monitor that an oil leak has occurred.

In the above embodiment, the detection device is used with a dedicated light emitting element and a light receiving element connected via a transmission optical fiber, but as shown in FIG. A condensing optical system 15 and a diverging optical system 16 are attached to the section, and during inspection, the light from a flashlight is input into the optical fiber through the condensing optical system 15, and the light is emitted from the divergent optical system 18. The presence or absence of a leak can be confirmed by whether or not it appears.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a spring holder is provided with a seat 15.15 at the end of two optical fibers 2.3 forming an optical joint, and a compression spring 1B interposed between the two is used. The outer periphery of the wooden optical fiber 2.3 is molded with an oil softening substance 17 while being biased in the direction of separation.

Although the present invention is for detecting leaked oil, one optical fiber forming an optical joint is aligned using a support member made of a material that deforms at a predetermined temperature, such as a bimetal alloy or a shape memory alloy. By doing so, it can also be applied to a detector that shuts off light when a predetermined temperature is reached to notify of a fire or the like.

As explained above, according to the present invention, two optical fibers that form photo atoms are connected by an oil softening substance while applying a force to relatively separate them. Oil leaks can be reliably detected without malfunctions caused by non-oil liquids, and since no electrical energy is required to be supplied to the device, an intrinsically safe explosion-proof detection system can be realized with a simple structure, and even remotely There is no fear of electromagnetic induction interference that often occurs in monitoring.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the above device, FIG. 3 is an underground cross-sectional view showing an example of an oil leak monitoring system at a gas station equipped with the above device, and FIG. 4 is an example of a display panel. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a light input part to the same device, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional optical oil detection device. ■...Detection device 2.3...Photoatomic fiber 4
...Oil inlet hole 5...Case 6...Spring material
7...Oil softening substance 15...Spring holder is seat 16
...Compression spring F...Optical fiber for transmission Applicant: Tokyo Tatsuno Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney: Keiji Nishikawa Katsuhiko Kimura Figure 5 $7

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. 2, one end of which is connected to a light emitting means and a light receiving means, respectively.
An optical leakage oil detection device in which the other ends of optical fibers are aligned with each other via a member that urges them to move away from each other and are joined using an oil softening substance. 2. The other end of each of the two optical fibers is housed in a case in which an oil inflow hole is formed and is joined with an oil softening substance, as set forth in claim 1. Optical leakage oil detection device. 3. The optical leakage oil detection device according to claim 1, wherein the oil softening substance is a polymeric material selected from wax, paraffin, wax, rubber, etc. 4. Claim 1, wherein the member for relatively separating the two optical fibers is a spring member that biases the end of one of the optical fibers in a direction perpendicular to its axial direction. The optical method described in %5 is characterized in that the member for relatively separating the two optical fibers is that the spring holder formed near the end of the two optical fibers is a compression spring interposed in the seat. An optical leakage oil detection device according to claim 1. 8. The optical leakage oil detection device according to claim 5, wherein the spring material is molded with an oil softening substance.