Innovative technologies for offshore platforms safety and environmental monitoring

The Oil&Gas industry features peculiar characteristics and criticalities in terms of risk assessment and management, both for the environment and for human health. The offshore framework, due to its unique logistics, compactness and density of installations, is a further specificity for which various recommended practices and standards, constantly evolving and with significant differences depending on the geographical scenario, are currently in use. Starting from an accurate analysis of such standards and the state of the art of environmental monitoring and fire&gas alert systems, the SEADOG (Safety & Environmental Analysis Division for Oil&Gas) research center of Politecnico di Torino is developing a new generation of sensing platforms characterized by limited dimensions, optimization of energy requirements and reduced implementation costs, with the aim of improving risks control protocols by distributed plant monitoring and the detection of chemicals that are accidentally dispersed in the sea. In this regard an innovative solid state sensor for H2S detection, fabricated by MEMS and micro-hotplate technology and integrating nanostructured material, and a spectrophotometric monitoring platform for the detection of heavy metal ions in offshore installations neighboring waters will be described in detail.