Business
Product Development Partnership
Product Development Partnership.
About this update from Avacta Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nAvacta Group plc\n\nProduct development partnership\n\nLaser based gas detection for safety applications within the petrochemical\nindustry\n\nAvacta Group plc (\"Avacta\"), which develops detection and analysis technology\naimed at the pharmaceutical, healthcare, industrial and security sectors, is\npleased to announce that it has entered into a product development partnership\nwith one of the market leaders in toxic and flammable gas detection for the\ndevelopment of a new hydrogen sulphide (H2S) sensor for industrial safety\napplications.\n\nAvacta's trace gas detection exploits its cavity enhanced absorption\nspectroscopy (\"CEAS\") technology. Using this technology Avacta recently\nannounced the completion of a trace gas analysis prototype for a constituent of\nbreath and a collaboration agreement for clinical gas diagnostics with V&F\nMedical Instrumente (Austria). However, the same CEAS detection engine is\nequally applicable within industrial settings as within medical diagnostics and\nprovides significant improvements over existing `industry standard' detection\ntechnologies such as electrochemical sensors.\n\nH2S is a colourless toxic gas and may be found wherever a mixture of\nhydrocarbons and sulphur occurs, which happens most commonly within\npetrochemical processing environments. Despite being associated with an odour\nof rotten eggs, H2S quickly deadens the sense of smell, therefore potential\nvictims may not be aware of its presence until too late.\n\nWhile electrochemical sensors can adequately detect H2S at the regulated\nexposure limit of 5ppm they possess inherent limitations such as: limited\nlifetimes, slow response and recovery times, plus the possibility for them to\n`sleep' and also be poisoned by contaminating gases. Furthermore,\nelectrochemical sensor failures are undetectable as they continue to give an\n`all OK' reading when they cease to operate, even in the presence of the target\ngas. This clearly presents a dangerous scenario for workers and a highly\nexpensive maintenance schedule for companies, who are required to continuously\ncheck and replace electrochemical sensors.\n\nUnder the terms of the agreement Avacta has entered into a product development\npartnership aimed at providing the market with a CEAS based H2S detection\nsolution which overcomes the limitations of electrochemical ...