CLEAN DEAL: QUANTUM CASCADE LASERS BRING CLEAN WATER TO THE OIL INDUSTRY
The Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA has entered into a business partnership with the Austrian high-tech company QuantaRed Technologies. After an intensive evaluation phase, the oil and gas giant has decided to purchase its first quantum cascade laser-based instrument for water quality monitoring. The chemical analyzer has been developed by the Viennese company QuantaRed in cooperation with Eralytics in the last five years. The instrument delivers an innovative measuring technique which is CFC-free, accurate, fast and cost efficient. The present commercial breakthrough is accompanied by intensified sales activities in 15 countries worldwide.
The petroleum industry is an enormous market. Small changes in the workflow can result in astronomical costs. To score with innovative ideas in this industry, a strong incentive has to be offered. The Vienna high-tech companies QuantaRed (www.quantared.com) and Eralytics (www.eralytics.com) have accepted this challenge. Their chemical analyzer called "ERACHECK" is based on a quantum cascade laser and allows the precise quantification of hydrocarbons in the waste water from oil platforms without the use of ozone-depleting CFCs. Until now, CFC-free measurements had to be performed as expensive laboratory analyses on land. The ERACHECK now permits (within a few minutes) the measurement of hydrocarbon concentration directly on the oil platform by the mere push-of-a-button.
TEST THE BEST
Recently, the company has struck a bargain with the Norwegian energy enterprise and technology leader Statoil, thereby celebrating its commercial breakthrough.
Wolfgang Ritter, the CEO of QuantaRed, comments: "After six months of detailed testing Statoil has declared that our ERACHECK fully meets their high expectations. All tests were passed convincingly. We were pleased to receive the order to equip Statoil´s first offshore platform with our instrument."
By using the ERACHECK oil-in-water analyzer it is now possible to perform CFC-free measurements on the platform. Conventional methods rely on CFC organic solvents or the need to employ remote gas chromatography systems. Whereas the use of CFCs is not a sustainable option (their use has been banned by the Montreal protocol due to environmental issues), gas chromatography is a highly sophisticated technology which must be carried out by experts on land - a major cost driver in the tough business of the petroleum industry. The innovative instrument ERACHECK facilitates this process significantly. It allows quick and easy implementation on-site, via push-button simplicity. Thus long transport distances for the analysis on land can be avoided. Beyond providing huge cost savings, a fast and accurate response is guaranteed. In the case of water contamination from offshore platforms, this method allows rapid cause analysis and immediate elimination of the problem.
QUANTUM LEAP WITH QUANTUM CASCADE LASERS
The technological progress relies on the use of quantum cascade lasers. These are a new generation of powerful, miniaturized mid-IR light sources that are operated at room temperature. Electrons travel through cascade structures of different materials and emit light - based on the laws of quantum mechanics. They can easily be integrated into compact devices and cover the infrared wavelength range with an unprecedented intensity. Wolfgang Ritter adds: "For the spectral analysis of complex molecules such as hydrocarbons, measurements in the mid-infrared range are ideal - if the light is powerful enough. Quantum cascade lasers excellently satisfy this criterion. Moreover, they can be embedded in miniaturized chemical analyzers."
Powerful quantum cascade lasers have been experimentally realized in the past few years. After launching the ERACHECK, QuantaRed succeeded to inspire the petrochemical industry rapidly. This does not only result in business success for QuantaRed, but is also a milestone for the operators of oil platforms.
