hot Gas Raman Identification and measurement For Foundation INdustries (GRIFFIN)

The ability to monitor gas more accurately in the production cycles of foundation industries, such as glass, ceramics and cement, could lead to more efficient processes and reductions in energy and emissions. However, measuring gases – particularly in challenging environments – is complex and requires costly equipment.

Instrumentation company IS-Instruments is exploring a potential alternative using innovative Raman gas measurement technology. "In simple terms, Raman spectrometers determine what a substance or element is composed of by firing a laser at a sample and measuring the light that comes back," says Michael Foster, Director of IS-Instruments. "It's a technique that is well established in academic communities, but we have been exploring its potential in real-world environments."

Previous research projects enabled IS-Instruments to combine its Raman gas technology with the University of Southampton's innovations in optical fibres to create a highly sensitive and accurate spectrometer. With funding from the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge, IS-Instruments worked with industrial partners – Glass Technology Services (glass), Breedon Group (cement) and Wienerberger (ceramics) – to take the lab-based technology into an industrial setting with a goal of placing the spectrometer into chimney stacks to measure flue emissions.

"With high temperatures, dust and fumes, industrial plants are extremely challenging environments for taking sensitive measurements. This industrial research project was about testing our technology's reliability in such environments and what adjustments or improvements may be needed," explains Foster. "The system was stable, but the tests revealed more work would need to be done to ensure the fibres could withstand high heat and dust."

With further development, the technology offers the opportunity for accurate, near-to-real-time hot gas measurement. As interest grows around mixing natural gas with cleaner energy sources, such as hydrogen, this could play an important role in optimising burner controls in industrial settings.

Perhaps more significantly, the project has generated interest in the potential for using Raman gas spectrometers in measuring gases in other sectors, including hydrogen power plants and the nuclear sectors, both conventional and fusion.

"If nuclear fusion is to become a reality, it's essential to be able to measure hydrogen isotopes, such as deuterium and tritium. Existing technologies are not able to easily and accurately detect hydrogen isotopes, but this is a straightforward process for our technology," says Foster. "We are currently working with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to see if the system can be adapted to measure hydrogen and its isotopes in a fusion facility."

Foster believes the technology could also broadly disrupt gas measuring: "Currently, these measurements are made with gas chromatographs. It's a reliable technology but very expensive and difficult to use. We've got a system close to the market that is easy to use, very accurate and could be used in measuring gas in a variety of situations, from domestic to industrial scale. It could transform the market."

“With high temperatures, dust and fumes, industrial plants are extremely challenging environments for taking sensitive measurements.”

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