Austrian High-Tech Companies Completes Deal with Norwegian Energy Giant Statoil

The Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA has entered into a business partnership with the Austrian high-tech companies QuantaRed Technologies and Eralytics. After an intensive evaluation phase, the oil and gas giant has decided to purchase its first quantum cascade laser-based instrument for water quality monitoring. The chemical analyser, developed in the last five years by the Viennese companies QuantaRed Technologies and Eralytics, delivers an innovative measuring technique which is CFC-free, accurate, fast and cost efficient. The present commercial breakthrough is accompanied by intensified sales activities in 15 countries worldwide.

The petroleum industry is an enormous market. Small changes in the workflow can result in astronomical costs. To score with innovative ideas in this industry, a strong incentive has to be offered. The Vienna high-tech companies QuantaRed and Eralytics have accepted this challenge. Their chemical analyser called "ERACHECK" is based on a quantum cascade laser and allows the precise quantification of hydrocarbons in the waste water from oil platforms without the use of ozone-depleting CFCs. Until now, CFC-free measurements had to be performed as expensive laboratory analyses on land. The ERACHECK now permits (within a few minutes) the measurement of hydrocarbon concentration directly on the oil platform by the mere push-of-a-button.

The technological progress relies on the use of quantum cascade lasers. These are a new generation of powerful, miniaturised mid-IR light sources that are operated at room temperature. Electrons travel through cascade structures of different materials and emit light - based on the laws of quantum mechanics. They can easily be integrated into compact devices and cover the infrared wavelength range with an unprecedented intensity. Wolfgang Ritter adds: "For the spectral analysis of complex molecules such as hydrocarbons, measurements in the mid-infrared range are ideal - if the light is powerful enough. Quantum cascade lasers excellently satisfy this criterion. Moreover, they can be embedded in miniaturised chemical analysers."

Powerful quantum cascade lasers have been experimentally realized in the past few years. After launching the ERACHECK, QuantaRed and Eralytics succeeded to inspire the petrochemical industry rapidly. This does not only result in business success for QuantaRed, but is also a milestone for the operators of oil platforms.