ClearSeaTec - PES for H2020 SME-1

Pipelines are used to transport a variety of goods and products, and comprise an important part of European industrial infrastructure. Compared to shipping by railroad, pipelines have lower cost per unit and higher capacity. As per Siim Kallas, VP of the European Commission, Commissioner for Transport; "efficient transport is a precondition for maintaining the EU's prosperity" (EU's White Paper on Transport, 2011). Pipelines remain an integrated part of a transport system for gas and liquids, including sewage, slurry, water - and petroleum products. Increasingly, such infrastructure is also becoming "smart", as sensors and tools for data processing are added. ClearSeaTec AS, a spin-off company from the University of Stavanger (UiS), will provide novel high-tech devices and methods for pipeline integrity management. Being presented as a modular combination of a leak point identification tool (patent #1), a close visual inspection system (patent #2) and an automated magnetized epoxy repair tool (patent #3), the technology portfolio is supplemented by long distance damage and encroachment monitoring and corrosion monitoring based on electromagnetics. While the venture and its Intellectual Property (IP) has its root in offshore O&G, it can be adapted to surface pipelines and transport of water, sewage or slurry. The technologies represented by the IP portfolio are a TRL-level between 3 and 6, and the SME Instrument program will be pursued to progress and promote the leak point identification tool that has the highest TRL. The initiative is based on a team with senior commercial and technical expertise. The overriding objective of ClearSeaTec's SME Instrument phase 1 project will - as per the program's guideline - be to deliver a Feasibility Study underpinning the development and commercialization journey of ClearSeaTec with a focus on the commercial approach and mitigating risks and entry barriers.