Project description
‘Seeing’ invisible gas leaks better than ever before
Gas leaks can lead to life-threatening explosions, as evidenced by the numerous incidents in recent years around the world. As more and more natural gas lines are installed in buildings and used to generate electricity in centralised facilities, the need for better gas leak detection is increasingly demanding attention. The Norwegian SME Gas Optics has developed GVS technology, a patented optical gas imaging (OGI) solution that overcomes many of the problems faced by current solutions. It is highly sensitive, reliable and ready for industry-standard safety integrity level (SIL) certification. The EU-funded ViewGas project is helping the team bring this first and only SIL-graded OGI system to market.
Objective
Gas leaks detectors are often part of an emergency shutdown system (ESD), where the detector can interface a control system and automatically shut down a process in case of a leak. A reliable ESD is an absolute necessity to minimize the potentially catastrophic consequences of a gas leakage. For the ESD, a high safety integrity level (SIL) is needed. Conventional point and line detectors are SIL certified. However, these systems have several shortcomings (detection depends on meteorological conditions; coverage is limited to a specific point or a line; don’t operate in real-time; are not able to identify the source of the leakage; can respond and elicit false alarms due to the presence of dust or water vapor), which together have propelled the emergence of Optical Gas Imaging (OGI). Still, today, none of the existing OGI systems are SIL certified, which hinders their integration with operators’ ESDs. Gas Optics (GO) aims to address this unmet need by commercializing the first and only SIL-graded OGI system with its patented GVS technology. GVS represents a gamechanger for natural gas leak detection as it allows an invisible gas leak to be immediately pinpointed and evaluated. The unique value proposition is achieved by using GO`s proprietary technology (gas correlation) as a principle of measurement – proven to be the most sensitive and reliable way to recognize gasses (key advantage over existing OGI technologies to SIL approval). GVS provides substantially better area coverage, presenting intuitive, real-time pictures of gas leaks. To ensure SIL certification and successful commercialization, GO needs to conduct all the activities required to meet SIL requirements, and to carry out large field trials for technology demonstration and validation. These comprise the innovation project objectives. If successfully achieving the objectives, GO will position as a leading supplier of OGI systems, with anticipated cumulated net profits of €30M, 5 years post-project.
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistry
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energypetroleum
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energynatural gas
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesoptics
- social sciencessociologygovernancecrisis management
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
5006 BERGEN
Norway
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.