Optosense

Optosense specializes in the production of infrared optical sensors for determining the concentration of explosive gases, primarily hydrocarbons. At the beginning of 2017, about 100 world and Russian gas analyzer manufacturers are customers of the company. At the same time, about 70% of the company's products are sold in America and Europe.

Gas analyzers based on Optosense sensors are used to ensure individual and industrial safety in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries (during oil and gas production, transportation and processing), coal industry (in mines), energy (in gas power plants), telecommunications (in servicing underground cable networks). The total volume of the gas analyzer market, according to Frost & Sullivan, is about $2 billion, with growth potential of up to $3 billion by 2018.

History

2021: Rusnano transferred its share to EMI and IKO

Rusnano On December 6, 2021 JSC announced its withdrawal from the project to create and manufacture unique infrared sensors MIPEX for determining the concentration of explosive (gases methane and others) used hydrocarbons in the industrial safety market.

The transaction was completed after reaching the planned economic indicators. The share of RUSNANO JSC (49.8%) in Optsens LLC was bought by technology development companies of AMY LLC and IKO LLC.

The pilot production "Optosense" was created and launched in St. Petersburg in 2010 on the basis of developments in the field of semiconductor technologies by a team of scientists from the FTI named after A.F. IOFFE. And already in 2011, on the basis of Optosense, mass production of first-generation MIPEX-02 sensors was organized. In 2013, the project reached the point of break-even, and in 2016 the company released a product - a sensor for portable gas analyzers MIPEX-04.

Our project is an example of successful and effective commercialization of Russian scientific developments in demand on the world market. Thanks to the efforts made at all stages of the development of the project, RUSNANO received a very decent financial result at the exit - ten times the return on investment, "said Vladimir Konovalov, Managing Director for Investment Activities of RUSNANO Management Company.

{{quote 'The project parties have created the conditions for the development of a new competitive product - the MIPEX sensor for the detection of explosive gases, which has occupied its niche in the industrial safety market. We managed to create a number of advantages of the Optosense sensors, among which the key is ultra-low power consumption (50 times fewer analogues). And the share of exports in the Optosens sales portfolio, which is more than 80%, proves the high level of our products, "commented Alexander Litvak, General Director of AMY LLC. }}

The key difference between MIPEX sensors is the use of semiconductor sources and radiation receivers in the spectral range of 3-5 microns. Also, the non-dispersed infrared technology (NDIR) used here, based on the selective absorption of infrared radiation by gases, is the most progressive in the field of explosive gas detection for industrial safety. Unlike the traditional thermocatalytic method in this technology, there is no chemical interaction in the measurement process, so optical sensors are durable and resistant to aggressive components in a controlled atmosphere.

The final consumers of explosive gas analyzers are the petrochemical industry (processing), the oil and gas complex (oil production, processing, transportation), the coal industry (coal mines), the chemical industry and housing and communal services (boiler houses, gas distribution networks).