NEO Monitors
Pioneering Contactless Gas Measurement

One cannot emphasize enough the importance of gas measurements and related process optimizations for several industries. However, attaining accurate and consistent gas measurements is easier said than done. Take combustion optimization, for example. The various technologies that exist for this leverage point type sensors (probes) that are in contact with the process gas. Even the widely used Zirconium oxide probes and combustible catalytic sensors undergo fast degradation due to their exposure to harsh conditions. Frequently replacing these damaged sensors results in monetary loss due to down-time, thereby increasing the overall associated cost with the process. In addition, the traditional gas measurement methods do not take place in real-time, which, in effect, bogs down the process control in question.

By pioneering the contactless optical measurement method called Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS), NEO Monitors brings a futuristic contactless gas measurement solution to the table. Developed in over 30 years of high-risk R&D in electro-optics and laser technology, NEO Monitors uses the unique properties of lasers to measure gas and dust concentrations in industrial processes. What makes the TDLAS technology different is its contactless measurement principle, rendering it suitable for applications in harsh environments where extractive sampling lines are prone to corrosion or clogging. The TDLAS sensors do not need to be exposed to corrosive gases such as ammonia and high temperatures.

While the gas in other technologies is extracted and brought into the external, NEO Monitors simplifies the process with its products: cross-stack analyzers in which the transmitter (including a semiconductor laser) is mounted on one side of a stack and the receiver (including a detector) on the diametrically opposite side. This setup ensures a fast response time with low maintenance requirements since no gas extraction is needed.

One of the key features of the TDLAS technology is that it allows measuring gases in real-time, typically down to one second, making it optimal for process control. Being highly sensitive and selective, TDLAS identifies and quantifies molecules at ppm-levels and is not prone to any cross-talk between different species. This means that, in contrast to combustible sensors measurements, TDLAS can measure, for example, the true CO value, which leads to better optimization of the operating point.

Evidently, the technology developed by NEO Monitors can be applied across most industrial processes/industries - manufacturing plants, refineries, and chemical process industries. Having established itself as a leading manufacturer and supplier of TDLAS and dust analyzers, the company has consistently innovated and introduced new gas measurements for over 17 years. With a diversified distributor network spanning more than 40 distributors across all continents, NEO Monitors has successfully installed 20 000 analyzers globally and measured 40 different gases such as oxygen, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and ammonia, to name a few.

Dr. Peter Geiser, CTO at NEO Monitors, reminisces a particular customer success story where the client wanted to extract sulfur from waste gas as sulfur is used as a feedstock for other productions such as rubber, cosmetics, and pharma products. Before approaching NEO Monitors, the client extracted gas samples by using heated pipes into an external analyzer. Sulfur is easily clogging pipes and thus requires maintenance service on a weekly to daily basis. NEO Monitors stepped in and developed and installed a specific pair of analyzers for its client. The client was able to reduce pipe maintenance by a whopping 70 percent.

Scripting many such success stories and progressing the company on an upward growth trajectory, NEO Monitors has recently opened new offices in Houston, TX, Bejing and Shanghai, China, to maintain a close and direct relationship with its clients based in the US and China. Adding another achievement in its name, the company introduced the world’s first hydrogen sensor based on TDLAS for in-situ applications. “Our innovative capabilities can be a game-changer for our customers. We see a huge potential in the future for various applications throughout many industries,” concludes Geiser .