Providence Photonics, LLC Receives Patent and Launches New Product for Quantifying Gas Leaks

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 9,225,915 to Providence Photonics, LLC, an affiliate of Providence, for an Infrared (IR) based technology which can measure the emission rate of gas leaks from industrial process equipment. Providence Photonics is also launching a product, Model QL100, which utilizes this patented technology.

In the past decade, gas detection IR cameras have become widely accepted as an effective tool for surveying process equipment to detect hydrocarbon leaks. However, current IR camera technology can only detect hydrocarbon leaks and is unable to measure or quantify the leak rate. With this new technology, operating facilities will be able to quantify the leak rate in pounds per hour or other desired measurement units.

“Going from a qualitative to quantitative technology is a quantum leap,” said Yousheng Zeng, PhD, PE, Providence Photonics CEO and co-inventor of the technology. “Industry has recognized the efficiency of the IR camera for leak surveys, and has long desired the ability to quantify leak rates with the same device. This technology does just that and is compatible with existing IR cameras.”

The QL100 is designed to work with FLIR’s line of handheld infrared imagers, such as the GF300 and GF320.  These cameras are widely used throughout the petrochemical and oil and gas sectors for leak detection.

“The efficiency of FLIR's Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) technology is tied to its unique ability to help operators in various industries visualize gas leaks and quickly determine their source,” said Mark Boccella, FLIR Systems Inc. “Historically, users have had to acquire ancillary devices to achieve quantification, such as Toxic Vapor Analyzers (TVA) or flow sampling technologies.  Now, with the advent of the Quantitative OGI System from Providence Photonics, we expect the adoption of OGI technology to increase in the oil & gas industry.  Operators can now quickly and accurately assess how much lost product they are recapturing during Leak Detection and Repair activities.  This new development represents a critical step forward in the world of Optical Gas Imaging and aligns well with what customers have been requesting for some time now.”

For the first time, industry can now use an IR camera to remotely quantify leaks for components that are Difficult to Monitor (DTMs, such as elevated process equipment or vents), eliminating the need to construct temporary scaffolding to reach the components to be surveyed. Using the QL100 can provide a significant cost savings for monitoring DTMs, and also eliminates safety hazards associated with working on elevated scaffolding.

The technology can be used to measure emission rates of most hydrocarbons, including Methane which is a greenhouse gas with significant global warming potential (GWP).  Providence Photonics is continuing its research and development efforts to expand the technology into the measurement of hydrocarbon emissions from storage tanks, another important category of fugitive emissions from industrial facilities. Currently there is no practical method to measure hydrocarbon emission rates from storage tanks.

For additional information on the IR camera based leak quantification technology, contact Jon Morris at 225-766-7400 or [email protected].