Objective
Oil and gas is continuously leaking from offshore deepwater infrastructure. Up to 1 million tonnes of oil are lost from deepwater drilling leaks each year, with 601 oil and gas releases reported in the North Sea in 2015 alone, up 14.5% on the previous years. Current leak detection technologies suffer from high false positives, high cost, lack of continuous monitoring and safety risks, meaning the majority of leaks are not detected by equipment. To address this major environmental and economic problem, we have developed STREAM, a unique technology which uses subtle changes in the speed of sound to detect contaminants in seawater. We have recently completed a funded project to technically prove our concept at TRL6.
SALT has a proven track record of successfully commercialising highly innovative technologies such as our award-winning SonarBell. We have also successfully led two European collaborative projects to exploit the SonarBell in different applications. Currently, we are in advanced discussions with Statoil and BP who have shown great interest in the STREAM technology. Crucially, we are in negotiations with Subsea7, a global tier 1 service provider, to include STREAM in their service offering.
We now need to validate the market opportunity and reduce commercial risk by running large scale trials and optimising our product performance. 5 years post-project, we will generate annual revenues of €31.8 million, €4.7 million in net profits, 282 jobs, representing an 8 x ROI to EC investment. STREAM will significantly reduce the catastrophic impacts of undetected oil and gas leaks on marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture by helping producers effectively detect leaks and meet stricter industry legislation.
Fields of science
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheries
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energynatural gas
- social sciencessociologygovernancecrisis management
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaliphatic compounds
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.2.5. - Cross-cutting marine and maritime research
- H2020-EU.3.2.3. - Unlocking the potential of aquatic living resources
- H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
DT5 1DX Portland
United Kingdom
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