The DOT grant will support the development of an AI corrosion simulation application using Senslytics’ proprietary CausX AI, aiming to reduce pipeline failures, optimize capital spending, and minimize environmental and human safety risks.
Oklahoma City, OK – June 11, 2024
Senslytics, an artificial intelligence startup that provides early identification of risks for energy companies, has been awarded a SBIR Phase I grant from the U.S. DOT to address the critical issue of internal corrosion in hazardous liquid pipelines.
Senslytics’ proposed solution is designed to use existing pipeline data and corrosion expert knowledge to develop an AI simulation tool which enables engineers to determine the most effective method to combat internal corrosion. Pipeline operators and the public will benefit from reduced leaks, accurate identification of the appropriate chemicals for use, minimized unnecessary digging, and ultimately, reduced environmental and human safety risks.
“This DOT grant will enable Senslytics to better address pipeline corrosion and eventually more asset types that are affected by the $2.5 trillion global corrosion issue. Senslytics will continue developing AI software that moves subject-matter experts to the forefront of AI and does not require ‘big data’ to create a solution,” said Blake Bixler, CEO at Senslytics.
Internal corrosion caused $890 million in damages to pipelines over the past 20 years in addition to environmental damage and human injuries and fatalities. There are currently over 229,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines operating in the United States.
Homero Castaneda, Ph.D., Director of the National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Lab at Texas A&M University and Cassandra Moody, M.S., P.E. will join Senslytics in developing the AI simulation tool for corrosion.
This year, Senslytics secured a $500k grant from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) to develop CorroX, an AI software product which will identify corrosion, its cause, and provide an explanation for the AI’s conclusion. The AI developments from this grant will form the foundation upon which the corrosion simulation work funded by the DOT will be based.
“Our causation-based AI can model the situational influence of microbes and other factors that account for varying time delays in corrosion development and complicate corrosion modeling. This proposed solution will address a persistent challenge in pipeline maintenance that will transform how operators manage internal corrosion.” added Rabi Chakraborty, CTO and President at Senslytics.
This grant is supported by the Department of Transportation under Award Number 6913G624QSBIR1 FY2024.1. The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the DOT.
About Senslytics:
Senslytics, a venture capital-backed startup, develops proprietary causal AI software applications for the energy sector. The Senslytics CausX AI platform empowers engineers and energy professionals to improve decision-making in high-impact situations, reducing risks and improving capital efficiency and has been granted seven patents.
About the National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Lab at Texas A&M University:
Through research, education and training, the National Corrosion and Materials Reliability Lab (NCMRL) provides solutions to the corrosion needs of industry and government in order to maximize asset life, production efficiency and worker safety.
About DOT SBIR:
The U.S. DOT SBIR program supports research that has the potential for commercialization through products and applications sold to the private sector transportation industry, state departments of transportation, or other public or private entities.
For further information, please contact Senslytics at info@senslytics.com.