By Satish Kanady
DOHA: An innovative technology, developed in Qatar, is going global. The ExxonMobil Research Qatar’s (EMRQ) affiliate ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company yesterday announced it awarded a global commercial licence for an improved version of remote gas detection system to an international company Providence Photonic.
The technology was developed at EMRQ and Providence Photonic was the co-developer.
Sara Ortwein, President, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, said the newly developed dual imager system IntelliRed provides a more sensitive and accurate early warning alert of hydrocarbon leaks with minimal false alarms.
A single imager system was commercialised in late 2013. Both systems are designed to improve process safety and environmental performance at oil refineries, chemical plants, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and other gas processing facilities and can be used world-wide. The IntelliRed system was developed by scientists from EMRQ and Photonics over a four-year period, culminating in field tests of the system that began last year at production facilities in Qatar and the United States.
“The dual imager IntelliRed system is the latest example of ExxonMobil’s continuous focus on process safety and environmental protection”, said Ortwein. “Our collaboration with the imaging experts at Providence Photonics has produced a second generation remote gas detection system that leads the industry and with its robust design in capable of operating in oil and gas processing facilities around the world.”
Ortwein, who is in Doha to join the fifth anniversary celebrations of EMRQ, said ExxonMobil’s Doha research centre is currently focusing on four sectors, which are of common interest to Qatar and ExxonMobil. The sectors include environmental management, water reuse, LNG safety and costal carbonates.
On EMRQ’s coastal research, she said Qatar’s coastal sedimentary layers, formed during an estimated over 10,000 years, are similar to the sedimentary layers of the carbonate reservoir rocks found in the subsurface. This provide great benefits to geologists and engineers working to produce Qatar’s natural gas resources as they are able to gain a better understanding of the rock formations and the surface geology along the Qatari coast line.
In 2014, EMRQ’s achievements included a partnership with QU and Texas A&M at Galveston, with support from the Ministry of Enviornment, to further environmental research and marine mammal initiatives in order to address the issue of preservation of dugongs-large, long-living herbivorous marine mammals found in Qatar coastal waters.
On EMRQ’s future plans, Ortwein said the Doha Centre will continue to invest in research to better understand environmental risks from industrial activities, and the technologies needed to enhance environmental management capabilities.
Qatarisation is a key element of ExxonMobil Qatar’s strategic business plans. Approximately 30 percent of EMRQ’s employees, including key staff members, are Qatari nationals, she added.
The Peninsula
