Viper Imaging and Aquanta Vision expand gas leak detection to thermal cameras

Viper Imaging and Aquanta Vision on Oct. 6 announced a commercial partnership that brings Aquanta Vision’s PAM software to Viper’s thermal monitoring systems at industrial sites. The move extends automated gas leak detection beyond OGI cameras and could broaden use of thermal cameras for emissions monitoring.

Why it matters: - The partnership extends automated gas leak detection to thermal cameras, expanding the tools available for remote monitoring at oil and gas and other industrial facilities. - The move could make gas leaks and emissions easier to spot across a wider set of camera systems already deployed for safety and operations. - Aquanta Vision’s PAM is now being positioned beyond OGI cameras for the first time.

What happened: - Viper Imaging and Aquanta Vision announced a commercial partnership on Oct. 6 to bring Aquanta Vision’s PAM, or Pixel Analysis Mode, to Viper Imaging’s continuous remote monitoring solutions using thermal cameras. - The companies said the partnership builds on Viper Imaging’s testing of PAM with thermal cameras. - The initial rollout will target fixed-mount thermal monitoring solutions using FLIR A-Series thermal cameras. - Viper Imaging will later add solutions using Sierra Olympia OGI cores and other imaging modules. - PAM is being launched as part of Viper’s updated ViperVision IQ software suite.

The details: - PAM is a physics-based app that analyzes thermal signals at the individual pixel level. - Aquanta Vision developed PAM to make methane leaks harder to miss. - PAM is commercially available for OGI cameras. - Viper Imaging said the software will help the company identify gas leaks and alert customers when one occurs. - Viper Imaging also said the software’s scalability supports refrigerant, hydrocarbon and other critical gas installations. - Thermal cameras are used for continuous remote monitoring of equipment, operating conditions, security and safety across several industries worldwide. - Thermal cameras are not specifically designed for gas leak detection or gas emissions monitoring. - Using a variety of sensors should allow more customized solutions for each customer. - Aquanta Vision’s partners now bring PAM to handheld, drone-mounted and fixed-mount camera configurations used around oil and gas facilities. - The partnership also takes PAM beyond OGI cameras themselves for the first time.

Between the lines: - The partnership points to a broader push to turn general-purpose thermal cameras into gas-emissions tools without replacing existing industrial monitoring infrastructure. - Viper Imaging’s focus on multiple camera types suggests the companies are trying to fit PAM into already installed hardware rather than asking customers to adopt a single new sensor platform. - Aquanta Vision said the results from Viper’s thermal-camera testing were highly encouraging, and the company sees a significant new opportunity because thermal cameras are widely used in industrial remote monitoring. - Viper Imaging is a supplier of thermal imaging systems and industrial process monitoring equipment founded in 2014 and acquired in 2023 by Systems With Intelligence. - Viper Imaging says it has installations at more than 700 job sites across 21 countries. - Aquanta Vision was founded in 2023 and develops apps for methane and other gas detection using thermal imaging technologies.

What’s next: - Viper Imaging plans to deploy PAM first in fixed-mount thermal monitoring systems and then expand to additional imaging modules. - The companies are positioning PAM for broader use in industrial remote monitoring as the software is integrated into ViperVision IQ. - Aquanta Vision’s channel partners now cover handheld, drone-mounted and fixed-mount deployments, which could support wider adoption if customers want one approach across multiple inspection workflows.

The bottom line: - The partnership gives thermal cameras a new role in emissions detection and could widen adoption of automated gas leak alerting in industrial settings. - More information