News/Events
June 2016: Successful GOMRI deployment of Franatech laser-based sniffer in the Gulf of Mexico
Press Release by Professor Chris Martens (University North-Carolina-Chapel Hill)
A successful month-long deployment of a Franatech laser-based “sniffer” sensor and current meter at 1200m depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico in March 2016, has produced the first in situ, underwater methane concentration and transport measurements within the 30 meter thick “friction layer” overlying the seafloor. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led by Christopher S Martens recovered their battery-powered mini- lander equipped with the Franatech laser sensor and acoustic Doppler current profiler during a research cruise funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) for the ECOGIG (Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf) project. The results are being used to quantify the presence and impacts of hydrocarbon releases from natural gas seeps in the deep northern Gulf water column.
March 2016: First deployment of Franatech METS methane sniffer on a glider
Company Alseamar has successfully integrated and deployed Franatech METS methane sniffer on their SeaExplorer glider. The glider is on show at Oceanology International, Alseamar welcomes you on booth H300.
March 2016: Franatech laser-based sniffer for underwater application on show at Photonics 2016
March 14-17, Moscow
Our partner Geomatics Centre welcomes you on booth 3C43
March 2016: Franatech products on show at OI 2016
March 15-17, London, Excel
Franatech products will be on show at following booths:
November 2015 - February 2016: Franatech’s CO2 sensor part of Kon-Tiki 2 expedition
In November 2015, the official cruise of the Kon-Tiki II expedition was launched, sailing two balsa rafts sailing from South America to Easter Island return trip. In addition to the adventurous trip, it has a clear scientific value, monitoring climate change, wild life etc.
Onboard the rafts, Franatech CO2 sensors are used for monitoring CO2 content in the sea along the route, important scientific data as part of analyzing climates influences.
After the rafts reached Easter Island during Christmas time, they are no underway back to origin.
This is another example of the usefulness of Franatech’s state of the art instruments.
February 2016: again successful field jobs in Trinidad and Gulf of Mexico for the Franatech laser-based sniffer
Successfull cruise with Franatech’s laser sniffer in Trinidad
At the end of January one of the biggest international oil and gas operators made a cruise using Franatech’s mobile laser sniffer in connection with a potential oil leakage from a pipeline outside the coast of Trinidad.
In an area where there are several pipelines belonging to different oil companies and where there also are releases of oil from natural «seeps», it was of utmost importance for the oil company to identify if their pipeline was leaking oil in the area.
By using Franatech’s laser sniffer onboard a small ROV (remote operating vehicle), the company was able to confirm that their installation was not responsible for the oil observed at the surface.
According to Franatech’s CTO Michel Masson, this is a good example of how the company’s instruments effectively can identify small and early leakages, but also clarify cases where an oil operator are NOT responsible for occurrence of oil in the sea.
Successful cruise with Franatech’s laser sensor in the Gulf of Mexico
In November/December 2015, a major oil service company in co-operation with an international oil operator made a successful cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, using Franatech’s mobile laser sensor in connection with a survey checking for methane releases within a critical area.
As well the service company as the operator underlined the quality and easy to operate features of the Franatech sniffer, this leading to further commercial contracts for Franatech’s newest technology.
February 2016: Franatech present at Australian Oil & Gas
February 24-26, Perth, Australia
Franatech will welcome you at the Norwegian Pavilion. As one sponsor for the Kangaroo-Viking Challenge, we’ll also have a company presentation on Booth L21.
November 2015: Franatech speaks at the MTS symposium on Leak Detection
17. - 18. November 2015, Houston, TX, USA
Franatech and Bluefin Robotics will present results of field validation of a fast response laser-based methane sniffer, deployed on a AUV.
November 2015: Franatech successful methane sniffer showcased on ENI booth at Abu Dhabi ADIPEC
9. - 12. November 2015, Abu Dhabi
ENI/Tecnomare will present the Clean Sea instrumented pod, equipped with the successful methane sniffer METS. The pod was deployed on the Saab Sabertooth AUV.
Case Studies
July 2015: new case studies have been uploaded check under “applications”
Company Benthic, a specialist of geotechnical surveys presents an interesting system comprising our METS for surveying geohazards and methane hydrates layers.
In another business area, an interesting report on significant energy savings in recirculating aquaculture systems by using continuous monitoring of CO2 with our sensor.
April 2015: New gas sniffer generation presented at Ocean Business
April 14 - 16, Southampton, UK
Develogic will showcase its new deep water instrumented lander, which features our laser-based methane sensor. Have a look at Booth E 3
The new generation laser-based methane sensor will be presented during the FixO3-Technology Cluster workshop, seminar room on the 4th floor of the NOC, Wednesday 15th starting 10:30am.
March 2015: AUV with Franatech sniffer displayed at OMC Ravenna
March 25 - 27, Ravenna, Italy
The METS methane sniffer has been successfully deployed by ENI / Tecnomare within the Clean Sea system, as part of theinstrumented POD dedicated to hydrocarbon detection. The system is displayed at ENI booth G8 in Hall 6.
February 2015: Franatech METS methane sensor displayed at Underwater Intervention
February 10 – 12, New Orleans
The METS methane sensor was displayed on the VideoRay booth. The METS is part of the payload offered for leak detection and methane monitoring. With its small size and agility, the VideoRay Pro 4 is the world's most popular small underwater remotely operated vehicle.
November 2014: Franatech speaks at the MTS symposium on Leak Detection
18. - 19. November 2014, Westin Hotel Memorial City Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Franatech presents ground-breaking achievements on underwater gas sniffer technology at the symposium on Leak Detection organized by the Marine Technology Society in Houston, Nov 18 and 19.
October 2014: meet us at Aquasur 2014, Puerto Montt, Chile
22. - 25. October 2014, Puerto Montt, Chile
Meet us at Aquasur 2014 at Booth A252.
September 2014: ISO certification for Franatech
The whole team at Franatech is proud of the newly received ISO certification. Another step towards better quality and service for our customers.
June 2014: BOSIET certification for Franatech engineer
We congratulate our colleague Jens Gronemann who successfully passed the BOSIET. This certificate is one further step in our continuous efforts to better serve our customer in the offshore oil & gas industry.
April 2014: Franatech products at Oceans'14 in Taipei
7.-10.April 2014, Taipei
Oceans'14 MTS/IEEE takes place April 7 to 10 in Taipei, Taiwan. All-Star Technology Corporation (STEI) our partner in Taipei will be happy to welcome you and present our products on booth A23.
March 2014: Franatech products at OI'14 in London
11.-13.March 2014, London
do not miss our METS methane sensor and some applications
booth L125: ASD Sensortechnik will present also other Franatech products,
booth R500: SubCtech will showcase the METS on their multisensor survey ROV,
booth J100: the project CleanSea, lead by Tecnomare / ENI will be presented by SAAB Seaeye
December 2013: Developer certification for Franatech engineer
December 2013
We congratulate our colleague Thomas Kainz, who successfully passed the Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (CLAD) Exam. This is another step in support of our continuous efforts to ensure quality for our users.
November 2013: Visit from japanese partners for project meeting
November 2013, Lüneburg, Germany
We welcomed long-time partners involved in the japanese national Methane Hydrate Programme MH21 on the occasion of a project meeting. Partners represented were the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), the Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) and Toho Mercantile Co. Ltd (TOHO). Results and future actions were discussed.
From left to right: N. Arata and Y. Nakatsuka (JOGMEC), J. Gronemann and M. Masson (Franatech), N. Abe (JMU), Y. Hara (TOHO)
November 2013: Achilles Qualification for Franatech
November 2013
Franatech has been qualified in the Achilles Joint Qualification System for suppliers to the Oil Industry in Norway and Denmark. Our Achilles Id. is 29767
September 2013: Second Intitute of Oceanography (Hangzhou, China) visit to Franatech
September 2013, Lüneburg, Germany
A delegation from the Second Institute of Oceanography (SIO), State Oceanic Administration in Hangzhou / China visited Franatech in Lüneburg. Franatech was honoured to welcome a long-time customer. SIO has deployed Franatech products since years. The group of scientists were lead by Mr. Zhang Haiheng, Director-General of SIO, and Mrs. Han Xiqiu, Director of SIO International Cooperation Center. The agenda comprised a visit of Franatech facilities as well as technical and scientific discussions.
September 2013: Franatech at Oceanology International
3.-5.September 2013, Intex, Shanghai
Our partner LinkOcean will be happy to welcome you on their booth C-42 at OI China.
August 2013: Franatech exhibits at Aquanor
Trondheim, Norway
Franatech is present at Aquanor, August 13 to 16 in Trondheim / Norway. Visit us on booth A026.
Visit also company Arvotec on booth A028. Arvotec will showcase our CO2-sensor integrated to their feeder controller system.
July 2013: Successful Integration of our CO2-sensor in water quality control system
July 2013
Franatech has designed a new version of its CO2-sensor for integration into water quality control system. The first exemplar has been delivered to the Langsand Laks plant in Denmark, the next two are destined to Chile.
April 2013: meet us in Helsinki for
the 5th FerryBox Workshop
April 24-25, 2013, at the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).
Together with the Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA Franatech will present a novel concept for pCO2-measurement for Ferry-Boxes. Check in particular the presentation by Kai Sørensen on the 25th. The system will be exhibited on our stand.
April 2013: Ocean Business 2013
April 9 to 11 in Southampton UK
Our partner RBR will exhibit our METS methane sensor on Stand D11 visit RBR at www.rbr-global.com
March 2013: meet us at the MCE Deepwater Development technical conference
March 18 to 20 2013, we are present at the MCE Deepwater Development technical conference, in The Hague (The Netherlands)
Look for the joint presentation by Franatech and ExxonMobil, March 19, afternoon session, Track Two "Pipeline Leak Detection".
February 2013: meet us at Geilo Conference
Feb. 6 to 8 2013, we are present at the conference "Seabed Mapping and Inspection 2013", in Geilo (Norway)
Company Stinger Technology AS will exhibit in particular a leak detection system comprising our METS methane sensor, recently deployed in the North Sea. Check also the project presentation made by Per Sparrevik from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute.
December 2012 – Successful deployment offshore Japan
December 2012
A total of 10 METS have been deployed on 5 underwater stations for a scientific monitoring program. The picture shows one of the stations being put on the ocean bottom by a ROV.
November 2012 – successful deployment in the North-Sea
November 2012
A total of 11 METS have been deployed as part of an under water leakage detection network in the North-Sea for a long-term monitoring purpose. The concept design and development of the under water leakage system is lead by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and Company Stinger Technology AS. the installation is permanent but the system is modular and built for 1-2 year service and re-certification campaigns.The network is installed around a platform operated by a major international oil company. The picture shows some of the network nodes (without seabed frames) prior to offshore installation.
August 2012 – will be exhibiting at the Nor-Fishing 2012
August 14-17 2012, Trondheim
Visit us on booth A-031