The integrated laboratory

Floralis's "business unit" model fast-tracks certain technologies to the market prior to their creation as start-ups. It is as a direct result of this strategy that the Ecometrix and SARA business units are participating in the Zero CO₂ project.

The Zero CO₂ yacht will feature a fully-integrated SARA Gas analyser. SARA is a business unit created by Floralis which is also responsible for the commercialization of the product.  This new technology enables the real-time and selective and quantitative analysis of specific gas types present in the air. The SARA gas analyser was developed by the laboratory of Spectrometric Physics (UMR UJF-CNRS) of Grenoble.

This new gaz analyser utilises a method of absorption spectrometry (otherwise known as the OFCEAS technology) and the analyser has already been tried and tested in industrial environments as a means of identifying  traces of gas in both specific locations (industrial and geological) as well as testing for ambient gas measurement (urban environments, integrated in aircraft to test ambient gas levels)

SARA won the "Tremplin Recherche 2008",a prize for technological innovation awarded by the French Senate.

Ecometrix

The Zero CO2 yacht will also be equipped with an automatised platform enabling the sampling of atmospheric pollutants as well as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Ecometrix is a business unit owned by Floralis specialized in the sampling and analysis of gaseous emissions resulting from combustion and incineration processes (notably fossil fuels). Ecometrix will be responsible for installing the platform and managing the analysis of samples throughout the expedition.

This portable scientific platform has been developed by the Department of Research for the Environment and Atmospheric  Chemistry at the University Joseph Fourier (UJF) around ten years ago as part of a study related to the identification of alpine pollution prior to the re-opening of the Mont Blanc Tunnel (following the fire of 1999). The Ecometrix platform has been especially designed to work with absorbing cartridges compatible with existing analytical systems and enables gaseous samples to be taken automatically in difficult conditions. 

The Zero CO₂ project should enable the capture of quantitative data on pollution in the Mediterranean and its ports that will ultimately lead to a safer, cleaner maritime environment.