INDUSTRY FOCUS Oil & Gas


Robots set to eradicate petrol plant explosions


A


utonomous robots fitted with tiny chemical sensors that listen to the ‘sounds’ coming off gases will instantly


detect gas leaks in petrochemical plants and pipelines to dramatically improve disaster responses, according to Photonics21. The risk of a petrol plant explosion or a


potential disaster on an oil refinery could be dramatically reduced thanks to a new generation of tiny chemical sensors that use light and sound to ‘listen to’ gas leaks. Fitted to an autonomous patrolling robot, the tiny photo-acoustic gas sensors will be part of a wireless network continuously monitoring pipelines that can instantly identify petroleum, hydrogen sulphide, and a number of toxic gases, before alerting operatives in an oil rig or chemical plant. Current state of the art technologies can take


anything up to eight minutes per measurement and give off false positives when detecting gas leaks. However, a group of EU researchers are exploiting new techniques that combine both photonic and acoustic technologies to positively identify a leak in milliseconds. The multi-discipline consortium, calling


themselves ‘Redfinch’ (or mid infraREd Fully Integrated CHemical sensors) have combined light together with sound to increase the detection sensitivity of the wavelength fingerprint of a gas, so that it can be positively identified. Project dissemination manager, David Williams explains: “To use a monitoring system where lives and expensive equipment are at stake, the ability to act instantaneously is paramount. “Current detection technology using infrared


systems is often large, bulky, slow, and the detectable wavelengths are restricted. By combining a number of different platforms, never considered before with automated gas detection, we have come up with the solution of Photonic Integrated Circuits used with micro Photo- Acoustic Sensors (PIC-μPAS),” Williams says. As well as the wreckage and considerable expense, events like the Magodo Gas Plant Explosion in Nigeria (2015), the Port of Rizhao petrol plant explosion (2015) in China, and the Buncefield oil storage explosion in Hatfield, England (2005) can devastate communities, leaving a mark for generations. “The Redfinch consortium is developing


Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), using hybrid and monolithic integration of III-V diode and Interband Cascade/Quantum Cascade materials with silicon to create high performance, cost effective sensors. Essentially, using light and sound together allows us to produce a more specific detection and to be more accurate,” says Williams. The Redfinch team believe they can create a detector that is several times cheaper and more robust than existing technologies. “By integrating all the components, such as the


laser, the detector and the sensing chamber all onto one single chip, we reduce the possible points of failure and more importantly, the ‘noise’


automationmagazine.co.uk Automation | February 2019 23


ratio to improve the sensing capabilities. Shifting everything onto one silicon chip makes things more convenient and less expensive,” says Williams. The developed sensors can be quickly scaled up


to volume production using the mirPHAB pilot line, an Horizon 2020 funded pilot line for mid- infrared PIC development in Europe, which also closely involves a number of Redfinch partners.


Photonics21 www.photonics21.org www.redfinch.eu


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