Brüel & Kjær Licences Fibre-Optic Accelerometers to Smart Fibres

Royston, United Kingdom, February 26, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Brüel and Kjær has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with UK Company, Smart Fibres to produce and sell fibre-optic acceleration sensors worldwide.

Created in Brüel and Kjær’s R&D laboratory, the SmartAccel-HF is a fibre-optic acceleration sensor suitable for high frequency measurement of small vibrations, making it ideal for condition monitoring of rotating machines such as pumps, turbines, motors and wheeled vehicles. It can be used as part of an integrated fibre-optic system to monitor subsea pumps for the oil and gas industry.

The unique measurement benefits of optical fibre sensing technology include increased tolerance against extreme harsh environments, allowing long-term, sustainable monitoring solutions for a wider range of applications.

CEO of Smart Fibres, Chris Staveley said: "We have already proven the product in oil and gas applications and we are now looking to apply it to our other industry sectors.”

The SmartAccel-HF is a single-axis Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) acceleration sensor. According to Chris: "One of the key advantages of FBG technology is the ability to multiplex numerous sensors of different measure and types on a few optical fibres. Acceleration is one of the most interesting measures for machine health monitoring, so we are delighted that Brüel and Kjær has applied its expertise to develop this product.”

Finn Kryger Nielsen, Brüel & Kjær’s Transducer R&D Manager, said: “Developing this transducer has been a valuable research project that has produced transferable knowledge and expertise in Brüel & Kjær. Now, working together with Smart Fibres, we are excited to see it come into the world.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Smart Fibres will manufacture and sell the product to its customers in the oil and gas business - and other harsh environment industries.

Chris adds: "By bringing the manufacture of the product in-house, we have made acceleration an integral part of our Smart Fibres machine health monitoring solutions."

Smart Fibres considers this the best product available to carry out high speed vibration measurements for condition monitoring of rotating machines, when combined with Smart Fibres’ SmartScan interrogator.

About Brüel & Kjær
Brüel & Kjær is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration measurement systems.

Brüel & Kjær helps its customers measure and manage the quality of sound and vibration in their products and in the environment. Focus areas are aerospace, space, defence, automotive, ground transportation, airport environment, urban environment, telecom and audio.

Brüel & Kjær has an unparalleled portfolio of sound and vibration equipment and is a long-established designer and manufacturer of innovative instrumentation including sound level meters, microphones, accelerometers, conditioning amplifiers, calibrators, noise and vibration analyzers, and PULSE software. In addition, Bruel & Kjaer designs and manufactures the LDS range of vibration test systems, as well as complete airport and environmental monitoring systems: WebTrak, ANOMS, NoiseOffice and Noise Sentinel.

Brüel & Kjær also runs a variety of training courses, from basic introductions to noise and its effects to more specialised classes teaching customers how to get the most out of their equipment. Free, online training courses - conducted by our expert engineers - run throughout the year too.

Brüel & Kjær is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc, which has annual sales of £1.1bn and employs around 7,500 people worldwide across its four business segments.