Belgian Start-Up Develops Monitoring System for Offshore Assets

Zensor, a start-up company from Brussels, has developed a device that enables companies to monitor gas stations, offshore wind turbine foundations or buried pipelines.

The company now has its first customer – the Dutch gas infrastructure company Gasunie. 

The company offers full, integrated, autonomous and robust monitoring solutions for the foundation structures of offshore wind turbines as well as transformer stations, both for operational structures as well as for newbuild situations.

The offering includes the setup together with all devices required for monitoring of:

• Corrosion activity
• Grout condition
• Displacements and deformations
• Dynamic behavior (natural frequencies, damping…) of structures and components
• Stresses and strains
• Cathodic protection (impressed current :ICCP, and sacrificial anodes :SACP)
• Dissolved species, oxygen levels in air, temperatures and pressures…

All data is continuously collected and translated in to periodic reports and alarm signals.

“It’s a new intelligent technology that makes an automatic analysis, sending this info to the Help desk every 24 hours,” says Yves Van Ingelgem, one of the three partners. “As a result, additional interventions are no longer necessary making it possible to include the information into the maintenance system of the customer. This makes our customers’ life easier. Moreover, this risk mitigation offers interesting implications for insurance contributions and financing projects.”

Zensor evolved from SURF, an Electrochemical and Surface Engineering research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), experts in corrosion. With Paul Kumpen of the Kumpen construction company, Zensor attracted an external investor.

In order to turn the research projects into a company, Zensor tested its technology at Belwind offshore wind farm, with Colruyt as lead investor and with assistance from Bryo, the starters network of Voka. 

Press release, June 30, 2014; Image: Zensor