Senergetics develops fiber-optic sensors to spot corroded pipes

12 Sep 2024

Dutch startup’s technique targeting applications in chemical plants.

Start-up Senergetics has developed a sensor system that can identify corrosion of industrial piping as it starts to happen, even if buried under a thick layer of insulation. Its Dutch developers say, “the potential for cost savings as well as the reduction of CO₂ emissions is huge”.

Corrosion is a major problem for every chemical plant owner. A big facility may have kilometers of steel piping, much covered in a thick layer of insulation to prevent energy loss. Especially in these sections, it is difficult to identify locations where water has crept in and started eating away at the steel.

A number of imaging techniques are available to inspect surfaces through the glass wool and jacketing, but these can only provide a snapshot of the situation at a particular spot at a particular time, says Senergetics: “They are too expensive to be used anywhere else than suspect locations. It would be so much better if plant operators could continuously monitor all their piping for corrosion under insulation [CUI]”.

Senergetics is one of the latest startups from the active Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem. The Eindhoven-based company says it is close to commercializing a fiber-optics-based sensing system that can detect CUI as well as leaks. Its announcement this week states: “Easily installed along the outside of pipe cladding, the system can save up to 60% on maintenance costs, a recent trial project at a real-world plant revealed. It doubles as an energy loss monitor, quantifying thermal inefficiencies from poor insulation.”

The company claims that “worldwide annual heat loss caused by poor industrial insulation has been estimated to be equivalent to 520 megatons of CO₂, or roughly the amount produced by 170,000 Dutch households per year to fulfil their electricity and heating needs.” Senergetics believes that it can eliminate at least 10% of this spillage.

How it works

The company’s technology employs sensing technology developed by Alkmaar-based PhotonFirst. These sensor systems consist of optical fibers inscribed fibre Bragg gratings, which partially reflect light travelling through the fiber. As the fiber is subjected to a temperature change, the wavelength of the reflected light changes proportionally. By measuring this shift, temperature change can be quantified.

“We deploy hundreds or thousands of sensors to continuously gather data. By applying machine learning and AI to analyse this data, we can effectively detect corrosive environments,” said Senergetics CTO and co-founder Anitha Jacobs.

Following a number of trials at three different plants in the Netherlands and Germany, Senergetics was recently invited to do a follow-up test at Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. “In the first test, we managed to point out perfectly where CUI was happening, demonstrating the value of our technology in terms of maintenance and safety operations,” Jacobs added

Senergetics aims to launch a commercial product – a combination of hardware and subscription software – by the end of 2024.