SBIR Phase II: Inline plasmonic mercury monitors for natural gas processing

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发一种坚固耐用的在线等离子传感器，用于检测天然气中的汞。汞自然会对天然气造成百万分之几的污染，并会腐蚀加工设施中的关键铝部件。由于汞腐蚀，液化天然气(LNG)工厂的热交换器发生灾难性故障，造成数亿美元的损失和工人受伤。目前的监测方法不能在工艺气体管道中发现的高压下运行，导致测量不准确和仪器不可靠。随着天然气取代碳密集度更高的化石燃料，液化天然气在全球能源中的份额越来越大。到2020年，全球将有30家液化天然气工厂投入运营，汞监测市场总额将达到1.36亿美元。石化设施的汞监测总体上是一个每年2.16亿美元的市场。汞本身是一种神经毒素和全球污染物；我们的传感器有可能在汞影响人类健康之前帮助检测和去除汞。除了汞，等离子体传感是一种应用于多种化学和生物物种的新技术。该项目的智能优点来自于利用基于金纳米颗粒薄膜的局域表面等离子体共振(LSPR)的新型传感平台。它将建立在第一阶段项目成功的基础上，该项目证明了LSPR传感器对元素汞蒸气检测的适用性。这一第二阶段项目将沿着两个目标进行。第一个目标是使传感器适应高压运行；这一目标包括重新设计系统的关键部件和建造高压试验台。第二个目标是在天然气基质中测试LSPR传感器；初步结果表明，LSPR汞传感器在甲烷中响应良好，但本项目将研究其全范围响应和寿命性能。在完成这两个目标后，将开始实地试验。整个系统将在天然气厂得到使用认证，并在合适的天然气厂进行演示。该项目完成后，将实现基于LSPR的天然气汞监测仪的商用原型。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a robust, in-line plasmonic sensor for the detection of mercury in natural gas. Mercury naturally contaminates natural gas at the parts per million levels and can corrode critical aluminum components in processing facilities. Heat exchangers at Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plants have failed catastrophically due to mercury corrosion, costing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage and injuring workers. Current monitoring methods cannot operate at the high pressures found in the process gas lines, leading to inaccurate measurements and unreliable instruments. LNG is a growing share of global energy as natural gas replaces more carbon intensive fossil fuels. By 2020, 30 LNG plants will be operating world wide, for a total mercury monitoring market of $136 million. Mercury monitoring at petrochemical facilities broadly is a $216 million per year market. Mercury itself is a neurotoxin and a global pollutant; our sensor has the potential to aid in efforts to detect and remove mercury before it can impact human health. Beyond mercury, plasmonic sensing is a novel technology with applications for a variety of chemical and biological species.The intellectual merit of this project derives from the utilization of a novel sensing platform based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of a gold nanoparticle film. It will build upon the success of the Phase I project, which demonstrated the suitability of LSPR sensors for the detection of elemental mercury vapor. This Phase II project will proceed along two objectives. The first objective will be to adapt the sensor for operations at high pressure; included in this objective is the redesign of key components of the system and the construction of a high-pressure test bench. The second objective is testing the LSPR sensor in a natural gas matrix; preliminary results indicate that LSPR mercury sensors response well in methane, but the full range of response and lifetime performance will be investigated in this project. Upon completion of these two objectives, field trials will commence. The full system will be certified for use in a gas plant and demonstrated at a suitable natural gas plant. A commercial prototype LSPR based natural gas mercury monitor will be realized upon completion of this project.