Volume 5, Number 2     March/April 1997

  Technology Transfer

NASA Partners for Faster, More Reliable Gas Sensor

ERCO INC. LICENSED A NONMECHANICAL GAS SENSOR from NASA's Langley Research Center in November after a two-year negotiation process facilitated by the Mid-Continent Technology Transfer Center (MCTTC). The sensor, originally developed for measuring gases in the Earth's atmosphere from aircraft and spacecraft, will monitor gaseous pollutants discharged from petroleum refineries and chemical manufacturing plants. The device, named the Gas Filter Correlation Radiometer (GFCR), has several advantages over conventional gas sensors, including capabilities for remote sensing and area source monitoring, higher reliability, faster response, single-gas measurement and a more compact design.

The MCTTC learned about the air quality consulting firm, MERCO, in 1994 through the Colorado Innovation Foundation. The foundation is one of the MCTTC's regional affiliates. After meeting with MERCO to discuss its plans to conduct air quality tests, MCTTC Project Manager Ferdinand Chew identified Langley's gas sensor technology at Technology 2004, a NASA-sponsored showcase for federal government technologies.

Chew then guided MERCO through market searches and encouraged it to team with a strong manufacturer. "He located the technology and put us in touch with the right people," said MERCO Vice President Moe Bonakdar.

One of those right people, Dr. Frank Farmer of Langley's Technology Applications Group, says Chew's ability to see the GFCR as a product for MERCO was exceptional. The connection, Farmer said, was not readily apparent on first inspection.

Much of the GFCR's conversion potential comes from its all optical, nonmechanical design. The GFCR is more accurate and requires less maintenance than other sensors, Bonakdar said, adding that it requires little calibration and blocks interference, such as humidity and temperature, remarkably well. "Because of less interference, you get a more accurate reading—and more speed," he said.

MCTTC expertise also was crucial in cementing the license agreement between MERCO and Langley, according to both Farmer and Bonakdar. The MCTTC's Monty Coats worked diligently, Farmer said, to make sure that each organization understood the perspective of the other. Also, Bonakdar said Coats helped MERCO convince NASA that it could commercialize the GFCR as successfully as a large corporation.

Once the license was signed, which took place at a White House Conference on Environmental Technology in Colorado, MERCO enlisted the University of Colorado at Denver to build and test a product prototype, Bonakdar said. MERCO plans to start selling the sensor in about a year.

For more information, contact
Ferdinand Chew at the Mid-Continent Regional Technology Transfer Center (MCTTC).
Call 409/845-8605,E-mail: ecchew@teexnet.tamu.edu
Or contact Monty Coats at the MCTTC.
Call 512/342-4225,E-mail: ecmcoats@teexnet.tamu.edu
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.