Pittsburgh, PA 9/19/16—Safety products provider MSA Safety has acquired Senscient for an undisclosed amount. Senscient provides gas detection technology based on Enhanced Laser Diode Spectroscopy for industrial, oil and gas production and petrochemical processing applications. “Senscient’s innovative technology provides the perfect complement to our existing fixed gas and flame detection portfolio,” commented Kerry Bove, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for MSA. “Equally important, it provides further technical and competitive differentiation to MSA’s fixed gas and flame detection business.” MSA Safety stated that the acquisition enables it to offer more solutions to areas of the world, such as the Middle East, where oil production is more likely to be affected by elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide. It also broadens its industrial applications, including process analytics applications. Based in the UK, Senscient has 33 employees and an installed base of over 1,500 systems.

The purchase provides MSA Safety with a new detection technology to complement its existing fixed gas detection techniques, which include absorptive and photoacoustic IR–based systems. Senscient’s open-path gas detection systems utilize two lasers for more sensitive detection of toxic and flammable gases. Publicly listed MSA Safety posted $1.1 billion in revenues last year.