EPSRC logo

Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/R002630/1
Title: GasSight
Principal Investigator: Gibson, Dr G
Other Investigators:
Padgett, Professor M
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: School of Physics and Astronomy
Organisation: University of Glasgow
Scheme: Technology Programme
Starts: 01 May 2017 Ends: 30 April 2018 Value (£): 115,391
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Chemicals are added to the natural gas supply so that we, as consumers, can detect the smell from gas leaks. Unfortunately no such additive exists to allow us to see where the leak is coming from. The ability to directly image gas emissions has an immediate application for gas leak detection, both in the urban environment and in industrial processing plants. In this project we will address this gap in the market by developing GasSight, a low cost illumination and camera system that can visualise methane gas as it mixes with the air. GasSight will replace the large pixel array in a conventional camera with a low cost single photo-diode and a pattern projector (like those used in a digital data projector). The selectivity of the target gas is set by the wavelength of the illumination source. We will develop an active laser illumination system which has been tuned to an absorption band of methane in the short-wave infra-red spectrum. Conventional detector arrays that are sensitive to this short-wave infra-red are prohibitively expensive and hence, replacing them with a single photo-diode leads to very low cost systems.

This project builds upon a long-standing collaboration between the Optics Group at the University of Glasgow and M-Squared Lasers. The Optics group is internationally recognised for their expertise in the design of low-cost camera systems capable of seeing in the short-wave infra-red. M-Squared has expertise in transforming complicated laser systems, which require expert operation, into turn-key systems that need no user intervention. Their laser systems are well known for maintaining alignment for many years even in hostile environments.

The project will produce a prototype gas imaging system suitable for end user evaluation under realistic operational conditions.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Summary
Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:  
Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.gla.ac.uk