OptoDAS Interrogator

The OptoDAS interrogator provides long range and low noise performance with standard optical fibres. Real-time distortion free measurements of fibre strain modulation are achieved over distances up to 150 km. The constituent materials of OptoDAS interrogator is given in the table below. CategoryMaterial includedPercentage (%)MetalsAluminum (all types)46.9 Steel (incl. stainless, nickel plated, Tin plated)21.5 Copper (incl. beryllium)3.7 Brass (incl. nickel plated)8.8 Bronze0.09 Gold0.0002 Erbium0.003 Phosphor bronze0.09 Zinc0.17Plastics & PolymersAcrylate polymer / urethane1.06 ABS, PA, PBT, Polycarbonate, PE, PET, PETG, PP, PO, PPE4.75 PVC / PTFE / Polysiloxane / SMP / Divinycell1.01 Plastic foam / PU elastomer1.59 Hytrel, EPDM, NBR0.04 Dimethacrylate ester / epoxy0.03Ceramics & GlassCeramic substrate / Glass Ceramic / Silica / Silicon / Fiberglass1.99Electronics Circuit board8.20Total 100%The constituent materials of the packaging and accessories are presented below. Material Percentage (%)Plastic21.18Paper 22.5Foam12.9Wood62.2Metal0.027Total100%According to the manufacturer, this product meets the requirements of the Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU), the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (2014/30/EU), and the RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU with amendment 2015/863). Interrogator Unit Height 3U – 133 mm Width 483 mm (for 19” rack)Depth482 mm (526 mm incl. handles) Mass17.945 kgThe technical, performance and environmental characteristics are as follows: Power consumptionTypical 135W, max 150WAC power supply 100 V–240 V, 50 Hz–60 HzSpatial sampling:1mSpatial resolutionEqual to the Gauge length (GL)Gauge length (GL)Configurable from 2 – 40 m, in steps of 1 mSampling frequency (fs)400 Hz – 100 kHzSensing frequency range< 0.01 mHz to 50 kHzStorage Temperature-20 °C to +60 °C Operating Temperature+0 °C to +35 °COperating Relative Humidity10% to 85% (non-condensing) Both primary and secondary data have been used. All primary data were collected by the product manufacturer for the reference year 2024, covering the period from January to December. The main source of primary data is the bill of materials, supplemented by factory-specific data provided by the manufacturing facility in Norway. For the data, which was needed for modelling but was not provided by the manufacturer and could not be influenced by them , generic data was used. Secondary data were sourced from the regularly updated Ecoinvent database (version 3.9.1), aligning with EN 15804 standards to ensure background data not exceeding 10 years. ReTHINK EPD web application was used to model the life cycle for the production and disposal of the declared product systems. To ensure that the results are comparable, consistent background data from the international database Ecoinvent was used in the LCA (e.g. data records on energy, transport, auxiliary materials, and suppliers). Almost all consistent data sets contained in the Ecoinvent database are documented and can be viewed online. The Q-factor and its substantiation, as well as assumptions regarding waste scenarios, are based on the software and the Ecoinvent datasets used. No independent verification of these data has been performed. The scenarios included are currently in use and are representative for one of the most likely scenario alternatives. According to the criteria of the “UN Environmental Global Guidance on LCA database development” mentioned in EN 15804+A2, the data quality for all three representativeness categories (geographical, technical and time) can be described as good. The complete Bill of Materials (BOM) is provided by Alcatel Submarine Networks, detailing all materials used in production, including ancillary materials and packaging. Each material is classified by type, quantified by amount, and linked to its respective supplier. All suppliers have been identified for each raw material used in the product. The majority of suppliers are located in Norway. For raw materials supplied by a single supplier, transport distances were calculated based on the actual supplier location. For raw materials with multiple suppliers, the average distance for each raw material was calculated based on actual supplier locations to represent typical conditions. Road transport was modeled using the “Lorry truck, unspecified, market group: global” dataset from ecoinvent, and air transport was modeled using the “Transport, aircraft, Global” dataset. This approach was chosen due to the large number of suppliers per raw material/component. Waste generation during the production phase is assumed to be 3% of the total material input in the reference year. This assumption applies to all raw materials and components and is used to account for manufacturing losses, off-cuts, and process-related scrap in the life cycle assessment. A payload factor of 50 percent was used for all truck transports, which in fact corresponds to a full delivery and empty return trip. A data set for a non-specific truck was used. Module A4 is calculated based on the assumption that the product is distributed globally. The transportation is assumed to involve a combination of sea freight and road transport, using the following distances and datasets: - International transport: 18,000 km by sea freight (transoceanic container) plus 1,000 km by heavy-duty truck (lorry) - Intracontinental transport: 3,500 km by heavy-duty truck (lorry) - Transport, freight, sea, container ship {GLO} | market for transport, freight, sea, container ship | Cut-off, U -Transport, freight, lorry, unspecified {RER} | market for transport, freight, lorry, unspecified | Cut-off, U Module A5 is declared to account for the environmental impacts associated with the end-of-life of packaging. Modules B1 ,B4, B5 and B7 are considered not relevant for the OptoDAS Interrogator, as it is assumed that during the reference service life under normal operating conditions, there are no material or energy inputs. Module B3 is declared, and it is assumed that the product requires minimal maintenance over its reference service life (RSL). Maintenance activities are not associated with any significant energy or water use; therefore, the corresponding values are considered to be 0. Module B3 is declared to account for the repair of one copper component over a 15-year period. Module B6 is declared. The product has a typical power consumption of 135 W, corresponding to 1,182.6 kWh per year. The operational energy demand is modelled based on this typical consumption and scaled to a reference service life of 15 years, following the methodology defined in the applicable PCR. No electricity is consumed during the demolition process, as the removal of the product is performed entirely manually. Operational energy use over the 15-year lifetime is calculated using the Electricity (US) – medium voltage (1 kV–24 kV) profile, as the majority of the products were sold in the United States during the reference year, from April 2024 to April 2025. Copper and steel in the product are assumed to contain a fraction of secondary material, based on generic ecoinvent datasets. Some waste scenarios used in this LCA are based on NMD scenarios. These NMD scenarios are the default scenarios available in Rethink, the software used for this calculation. They are considered representative of real-world conditions, and the percentages for each treatment method are similar to, or closely reflect, actual scenarios for raw materials.

Installation is declared only to account for the environmental impacts associated with the end-of-life of packaging.

The OptoDAS interrogator measures change in strain in fiber optic cables. In principle, any event or signal impacting the strain of the fiber can be measured. OptoDAS is suitable for both marine and terrestrial applications, providing distributed acoustic and strain sensing for monitoring geological hazards, infrastructure in smart cities and traffic systems, railway operations, border security, and energy distribution networks.