Honeywell (Charlotte, North Carolina, USA) announced that it acquired Rebellion Photonics, a Houston-based provider of visual gas monitoring solutions designed to maximize safety, operational performance, emissions mitigation, and compliance in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power industries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to Honeywell officials, Rebellion offers the industry's only real-time monitoring platform that visually identifies and quantifies gas releases to quickly detect and analyze leaks. The intelligent monitoring system incorporates a sophisticated AI-driven software platform that automatically alerts plant operators if a gas leak, fire, or security issue is detected and provides detailed analytics.
The company’s self-calibrating technology offers a cost-effective monitoring solution by reducing the need to install, maintain, and calibrate sensors throughout a site. Its customers include some of the world's largest oil and gas, petrochemical, and power companies, and its solutions are deployed at refineries, oil rigs, offshore platforms, pipelines, and power plants.
“Automated visual monitoring is the future of gas leak detection,” says Robert Kester, CEO of Rebellion Photonics. “Combining our products with Honeywell's platform will make this the new industry standard for safety and environmental monitoring globally.”
Corrosion can be a contributing factor behind gas leaks at industrial plants, as occurred in 2015 at a Southern California storage facility.
The acquisition will become part of Honeywell's safety and productivity solutions business, which provides a wide range of gas detection technologies, safety gear, mobility solutions, and software. Rebellion's technology will also be deployed through Honeywell's performance materials and technologies business to help process manufacturing customers improve safety and compliance.
“To rapidly respond to a gas leak and keep their facilities safe, oil and gas, petrochemical, and power companies are deploying Rebellion Photonics’ next generation visual monitoring technology powered by machine learning," says John Waldron, president and CEO of the safety and productivity solutions business.
Founded in 2009, Rebellion provides a patented gas cloud imaging system that incorporates cameras and proprietary hyperspectral imaging technology to pinpoint the source of a leak and measure the volume and concentration of gases. The company also provides real-time fire detection and intrusion and surveillance monitoring solutions.
Honeywell says it has more than 60 years of experience in delivering fixed and portable gas detection solutions for industrial, commercial, and governmental applications where people can be exposed to toxic or flammable gases. These gas detection solutions can be deployed where workers enter confined spaces or in challenging environments, such as cold storage plants and offshore oil production facilities.
Sources: Honeywell, www.honeywell.com; Rebellion Phototonics, www.rebellionphotonics.com.