René Braun, Founder and CEO Grandperspective is ushering in a new era of emission and safety management with its scanfeld system, the world’s first comprehensive solution for monitoring emissions in industrial facilities. This groundbreaking technology, powered by sensors, can detect over 400 chemicals from long distances, automatically visualise and pinpoint gas clouds, leaks, and deliver real-time emission reports to enhance safety and operational efficiency in complex industrial environments.
“When I speak to the managers of large chemical companies, who are responsible for process safety and reducing emissions, there is one key trait that they all share. They exhibit a deep sense of responsibility, and they are constantly aware that the wellbeing of thousands depends upon their skills, knowledge and experience. They want to better understand the emissions landscape, so they can be in control of the emission detection narrative for the plants that they manage,” says René Braun, CEO and founder.
Grandperspective is driven by the same desire. Braun and Peter Maas, the CTO and co-founder established the company after realising the inability of existing solutions to adequately track the diverse range of chemical emissions. The scanfeld system meets these challenges head-on. Whether it’s technical, process or fugitive emissions, it ensures immediate detection.
“Our technology gives health and safety teams real-time situational awareness, clearly identifying which individuals in the plant are at risk,” says Braun.
Scanfeld represents a leap in emission management. Unlike conventional sensor-based methods, it employs remote sensors and advanced data fusion to identify emissions in real time across large industrial sites. Tailored for extensive production and storage facilities, it allows remote monitoring of hundreds of compounds with exceptional versatility. It operates accurately across different altitude profiles without the need for calibration, delivering precision that differentiates between routine emissions and critical safety incidents.
This flexibility has made scanfeld the preferred choice among leading petrochemical companies and international oil firms. Whether adjusting to process changes, meeting new regulatory demands or conducting urgent real-time inspections during turnarounds, scanfeld sensors are up to the challenge. For instance, a sensor initially assigned to analyse methane emissions can also assess leakages of more than 400 other gases, future-proofing the system and ensuring its scalability across an entire organisation.
The strength of scanfeld lies in its simplicity—requiring just a few sensor units to autonomously identify, monitor and quantify hundreds of gases with exceptional precision, including detecting emissions as low as 0.05 kilogrammes per hour. These smart sensors continuously learn by capturing over a million spectra daily across 400 compounds. This allows the system to distinguish between routine emissions and hazardous leaks, virtually eliminating false positives and providing accurate real-time gas cloud mapping.
Using 5D imaging, scanfeld captures detailed data on gas clouds, including their size, shape and direction—enabling safety teams to respond quickly and effectively to potential threats, thereby enhancing safety and operational efficiency.
Our technology gives health and safety teams real-time situational awareness, clearly identifying which individuals in the plant are at risk
Beyond its safety benefits, the system enhances cost-efficiency through advanced ground-based remote sensing. Unlike traditional methods that need manual, on-site inspections, scanfeld allows safety teams to manage leaks swiftly from the control room. This capability is crucial, as it minimises costly operational disruptions, while providing real-time situational awareness.
Over the years, it has carved out numerous success stories by transforming industrial safety and efficiency with its cutting-edge technology. One notable example involves a major petrochemical site facing undetected gas leaks that threatened its operating license. On the first day of deployment, the system identified emission points that had previously evaded detection. Since then, scanfeld has reliably detected all types of emissions, ensuring exceptional safety and compliance.
Methane detection, which is incredibly difficult for legacy sensor technologies, is another area of focus for Grandperspective. With methane being a fundamental driver of climate warming, its abatement has become a top priority for both energy companies and regulators. Grandperspective’s remote sensing technology can effectively detect methane emissions at leak rates of 100 grammes per hour over a distance of 250 meters under real-world conditions, validated by the Engler-Bunte Institute of the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Separate testing has shown that the system is close to meeting the European Union’s Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR type 1) threshold of 17 grammes per hour.
Driven by cutting-edge innovation and unparalleled precision in emission detection, Grandperspective is not just advancing industrial safety but forging a path towards a safer and more sustainable future for industries and communities worldwide.
