Long Path Technologies co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Greg Rieker adjusts a micrometer on a test-bed frequency comb laser system developed at the University of Colorado Boulder to detect and quantify methane leaks at oil and gas facilities Feb. 21. (ScottWeiserscott.weiser@gazettedev.gazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bedf4ba0a073402c3991ce97ce2869c4?s=100&d=mm&r=g)
Photos of Long Path methane detector system. Mix of Gazette photos and company photos with editing and copyright permissions
Long Path Technologies co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Greg Rieker adjusts a micrometer on a test-bed frequency comb laser system developed at the University of Colorado Boulder to detect and quantify methane leaks at oil and gas facilities Feb. 21. (ScottWeiserscott.weiser@gazettedev.gazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bedf4ba0a073402c3991ce97ce2869c4?s=100&d=mm&r=g)Test-bed optical array at Dr. Greg Reiker’s laser laboratory at the University of Colorado’s Mechanical Engineering department in Boulder. The array uses a periodically poled lithium niobate nonlinear optical crystal, seen as a gold-colored rods at the center of the image, to convert near-infrared light into the mid-range frequency spectrum of infrared light needed to detect methane. (ScottWeiserscott.weiser@gazettedev.gazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bedf4ba0a073402c3991ce97ce2869c4?s=100&d=mm&r=g)Brad Krough, director of customer operations at LongPath Technologies Inc. views an optical processing array that creates a laser “comb” that emits hundreds of thousands of discrete infrared light frequencies at the same time that are used to detect the presence of molecules of methane and other chemicals in the air through absorption of very specific frequencies of the laser emissions. {span style=”caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Garet Book’; font-size: 13.333333px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; display: inline !important; float: none;”} {/span} (ScottWeiserscott.weiser@gazettedev.gazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bedf4ba0a073402c3991ce97ce2869c4?s=100&d=mm&r=g)An Active Emissions Overwatch System laser transmitter/receiver developed by LongPath Technologies, Inc. of Boulder in cooperation with the University of Colorado. The system uses infrared laser light to detect methane molecules escaping from oil and gas facilities. The laser emitter/receiver window is on the left. On the right is a telescopic video camera. (ScottWeiserscott.weiser@gazettedev.gazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bedf4ba0a073402c3991ce97ce2869c4?s=100&d=mm&r=g)An Active Emissions Overwatch System developed by LongPath Technologies, Inc. of Boulder in cooperation with the University of Colorado. The system uses infrared laser light to detect methane molecules escaping from oil and gas facilities. The device, mounted on a 50-foot tower can pan 360 degrees and uses retro-reflecting mirrors to bounce the invisible infrared light back to the device, which measures the difference between outgoing and returning light to quantify the amount of light the methane absorbs. The beams scan between upwind and downwind sets of mirrors to help quantify the concentration of gas detected. The system can monitor many individual facilities or wells within a circle three miles in diameter. (Courtesy photo, LongPath Technologies, Inc.)An Active Emissions Overwatch System developed by LongPath Technologies, Inc. of Boulder in cooperation with the University of Colorado. The system uses infrared laser light to detect methane molecules escaping from oil and gas facilities. The system both identifies where emissions are originating and quantifies the flow of emissions. The device, mounted on a 50-foot tower can pan 360 degrees and uses retro-reflecting mirrors to bounce the invisible infrared light back to the device, which measures the difference between outgoing and returning light to quantify the amount of light the methane absorbs and using a series of measurements and calculations that also quantify the flow amount. (Courtesy photo, LongPath Technologies, Inc.)An Active Emissions Overwatch System developed by LongPath Technologies, Inc. of Boulder in cooperation with the University of Colorado. The system uses infrared laser light to detect methane molecules escaping from oil and gas facilities. The system both identifies where emissions are originating and quantifies the flow of emissions. The device, mounted on a 50-foot tower can pan 360 degrees and uses retro-reflecting mirrors to bounce the invisible infrared light back to the device, which measures the difference between outgoing and returning light to quantify the amount of light the methane absorbs and using a series of measurements and calculations that also quantify the flow amount. (Courtesy, photo, LongPath Technologies, Inc.)Electromagnetic frequency spectrum. (Courtesy NIST)
