Company insight
Customisable, cost- effective and high- performing detectors for harsh environments
Reuter-Stokes, a Baker Hughes business, designs and manufactures radiation measurement devices for use in harsh environments including nuclear reactor monitoring, UV flame detection inside gas turbines and downhole sensors for directional drilling in the oil and gas industry. We speak to Ryan Conway, product line leader, radiation monitoring at Reuter-Stokes, to learn more.
ounded in 1956, Reuter-Stokes began life as a BF3 proportional counter manufacturer with a concentration in ceramic-to-metal seals. Today the Reuter-Stokes brand is a key part of Baker Hughes’ Industrial and Energy Technology (IET) business. Supporting Baker Hughes’ energy transition strategy and vision to take energy forward, Reuter-Stokes designs, develops and manufactures a wide range of sensors focused across four main product lines – radiation monitoring, nuclear instrumentation, industrial sensors and downhole drilling. In recent years, Reuter-Stokes has seen several new product developments in environmental monitoring and homeland security applications – this includes technologies like portal monitors and advancements with backpacks and handheld sensors.
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customers’ goals for longevity, performance and cost targets. “We understand radiation detection and
strive to give our customers a solution for their application,” says Ryan Conway, product line leader, radiation monitoring at Reuter-Stokes. “We manufacture 3He proportional counters for a wide range of applications, from downhole drilling to space exploration – including many harsh environments where our technology must perform in temperatures beyond 175 °C, plus high vibration, and shock. Reuter- Stokes technology is designed to provide customers with accurate and reliable data despite the tough environments. We build on our expertise in these applications and apply that design knowledge to other market segments.
“Being part of Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest and most respected energy technology companies, we’re
“Being part of Baker Hughes, one of the world’s [...] most respected energy technology companies, we’re able to leverage expertise across many applications that our competitors simply can’t access.”
Reuter-Stokes began providing Helium-3 (3He) detectors for portal monitors back in 2002, but as the technology has developed, Reuter-Stokes offers customised designs to many applications which can help reach
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able to leverage expertise across many applications that our competitors simply can’t access. Working with our customers, tapping into Baker Hughes expertise and embracing our culture of continuous improvement, we push the boundaries to
deliver better technology and more value for our customers.”
The Radiation Monitoring Product Line is adapting their neutron detectors to enable compatibility across multiple industries. As space exploration ventures even deeper into space, and encounters more risk, technology developments are key to success. “With new technologies, such as drones, robotics and so on, we’re able to tailor our detector designs to the level of stability that is required, including beyond this planet. Regardless of the neutron detection application, Reuter-Stokes has a detector design for it. At the same time, we’re helping establish the wider Baker Hughes business in a new market, in keeping with its strategy to expand its industrial portfolio.”
Choosing the right gas for your detector Reuter-Stokes’ most well-known detectors are gas-filled proportional neutron detectors, including 3He, Boron-10 (10B) and 10B Plus, with each having different applications. “3He detectors,” Conway notes, “have the optimal design for use in homeland security and defence, as well as in the safeguard market, with a filled pressure range from a fraction of an atmosphere up to 30 atmospheres in stainless steel.” There is also a degree of customisation with connecters and vacuum couplings, up to a maximum fill pressure of about 10 atmospheres
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
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