Single photon range imaging for natural gas sensing SPRINGS

气体传感是一个不断增长的市场，预计到2022年，仅石油和天然气泄漏检测一项就将增长到33.8亿美元。人们可以通过测量气体分子中与键伸展相关的红外吸收来检测单个气体物种。最敏感的方法使用激光雷达(LIDAR)技术，特别是差分吸收激光雷达(DIAL)，其中使用可调谐脉冲激光在线和离线获得传输数据，从而对吸收进行校准测量，从而实现气体浓度的测量。现有的远程方法使用昂贵的脉冲固态激光器和标准的雪崩探测方法。在斯普林斯，我们使用现成的通信二极管激光器和单光子计数检测来开发量子激发的激光雷达，能够探测到行业所需的最低浓度的天然气泄漏，运行距离为200米。这比我们市场上最接近的竞争对手的灵敏度提高了10倍，并实现了快速扫描和成像能力。一个轻便、低功率的版本可以安装在无人机上，以每小时30英里的测量速度在管道和/或垃圾填埋场进行气体泄漏检测。为了确保长期领先地位，我们还开发了一个量子增强型原型，将我们带到中红外波长，利用量子干涉和参数频率转换，进一步提高10倍的性能。这也为其他天然气种类的油气勘探和可能的远程爆炸探测打开了可能性。该项目涉及布里斯托尔大学和三个中小企业工业合作伙伴。ID Quantique UK将提供单光子LIDAR核心技术平台，QLM增加气体传感能力，Sky Futures将在工业环境中提供无人机集成和验证。

Gas sensing is a growing market, with Oil & Gas leak detection alone expected to grow to $3.38B in 2022. One can detect individual gas species by measuring the infrared absorption associated with bond stretching in the gas molecules. The most sensitive methods use laser radar (LIDAR) techniques particularly differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) where tunable pulsed lasers are used to obtain transmission data on and off-line allowing a calibrated measurement of absorption and thus gas concentration. Existing long range methods have used expensive pulsed solid state lasers and standard avalanche detection methods. Here in SPRINGS we use off-the-shelf communications diode lasers and single photon counting detection to develop a quantum inspired LIDAR capable of detecting the lowest concentration of natural gas leaks required by the industry out to a 200 metres operational distance. This brings a 10-fold sensitivity improvement over our closest competitor on the market and enables a fast scanning and imaging capability. A lightweight and low power, version could by mounted on a drone to delivers up to 30 miles per hour surveying speed for gas leak detection in pipelines and/or landfill sites. To ensure long-term leadership, we also develop a quantum-enhanced prototype, taking us to mid-IR wavelengths, for a further 10-fold performance gain, exploiting quantum interference and parametric frequency conversion. This also open up the possibility for other gas species for Oil & Gas exploration and possibly remote detection of explosives.The project involves University of Bristol and three SME industrial partners. ID Quantique UK will deliver the single photon LIDAR core technology platform while QLM adds the gas sensing capability and SKY Futures will provide drone integration and validation in industrial settings.