Finals Event
5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest - May 18th
Launched by Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center
Four Winners Announced at 2016 Shale Gas Innovation Contest Finals Event
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View University PostersView Finalist PresentationsPress Release
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PITTSBURGH, PA –On May 18th in Pittsburgh during the 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest the following four companies each walked away with a winner’s check for $20,000:
- Aridea Solutions -Developing an on-demand pneumatic actuated valve system operated through a proprietary software interface via the internet (IoT), allowing remote control at hard to access midstream sites
- Compass Natural Gas - Building compression stations to access significant volumes of natural gas to produce CNG for delivery via truck/trailer to small through large industrial, transport, agricultural, commercial, municipal, and other customers in the region that currently don’t have access to pipeline natural gas
- Epiphany Water Solutions - Providing a well pad based hybrid powered (solar, NG, or hard-wired) produced water remediation solution housed in 20 ft. shipping containers that uses a proprietary crystallizing chamber where all of the contaminants in the water drop out, leaving pure steam that can be further evaporated for zero discharge
- HalenHardy, LLC - SPILLTRATION™ product line made from post-consumer and post-industrial materials, engineered to absorb and contain oil-based leaks and spills while allowing clean water to filter through, and for the products to be reused after oil is removed for recycling
Bill Hall, Ben Franklin SGICC Director noted, “The 12 finalists once again show the diversity of ideas being brought to the table by entrepreneurs and small companies in the region to help advance the shale energy play. Innovations are now more than ever, critically important to the industry as we manage through this downturn. Continuous innovation is needed in every sector of the industry and all along the value chain, and this is exactly the space that the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) works in every day.”
At the event, Joe Frantz, Vice President of Engineering Technology for Range Resources provided a keynote address where he discussed just some of the incredible advancements that have been made recently by companies to improve their performance. He also noted, “What I like about the Innovation Contest process is that I always see several new technologies that might help Range further improve our operations. I take the new ideas back to the office and meet with other staff to see where they might fit in."
Hoon Won, President of Compass Natural Gas commented, “It’s an honor for Compass Natural Gas Partners to be recognized by SGICC and its distinguished panel of judges. Compass has benefited from the association with and support from SGICC. SGICC’s work to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship in the Marcellus is important to the future of the state and the region.”
At the event, Joe Frantz, Vice President of Engineering Technology for Range Resources provided a keynote address where he discussed just some of the incredible advancements that have been made recently by companies to improve their performance. He also noted, “What I like about the Innovation Contest process is that I always see several new technologies that might help Range further improve our operations. I take the new ideas back to the office and meet with other staff to see where they might fit in."
Hoon Won, President of Compass Natural Gas commented, “It’s an honor for Compass Natural Gas Partners to be recognized by SGICC and its distinguished panel of judges. Compass has benefited from the association with and support from SGICC. SGICC’s work to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship in the Marcellus is important to the future of the state and the region.”
Hoon Won, Founder & President of Compass Natural Gas accepts Winner’s Check. Also pictured
are Bill Hall, SGICC Director, and Denise Brinley, PA DCED Special Assistant to the Secretary
Gordon Craig, Chief Technology Officer from Epiphany noted, “Epiphany Water Solutions is honored to be recognized by the Shale Gas Innovation Contest and its well qualified panel of judges as a winner of the 2016 Shale Gas Innovation Contest. The contest is a great way to continue to improve the safety, efficiency, profitability and sustainability of the shale gas industry. The competition is especially valuable to Epiphany as it highlights our technologies in front of key personnel within the industry. It’s not often that you get to speak about your company and technology in front of the decision makers of so many E&P organizations.”
Epiphany accepts Winner’s Check. Pictured from left are Bill Hall, SGICC Director, Gordon Craig,
CTO, Epiphany, and Denise Brinley, PA DCED Special Assistant to the Secretary
Donny Beaver, CEO of HalenHardy noted, “SGICC and the Ben Franklin program have been instrumental in helping HalenHardy innovate new products since our inception. They’ve not only provided much needed early stage funding but also continue to offer us world class advice and business connections. Bill Hall and John Siggins are constantly encouraging us. We could not have come this far so quickly without their priceless input.”
Donny Beaver, CEO of HalenHardy accepts Winner’s Check. Also pictured are Bill Hall,
SGICC Director, and Denise Brinley, PA DCED Special Assistant to the Secretary
This year the contest once again also included a winner from the state of West Virginia thanks to a grant provided to the SGICC from the Benedum Foundation. That winner was Aridea Solutions from Charleston, WV. Their on-demand pneumatic actuated valve system allows valves at remote sites such as pipelines in rugged terrain to be controlled at significantly lower costs than traditional SCADA systems.
Aridea Solutions accepts Winner’s Check. Pictured from left are David Ross, VP Innovation at EQT Production,
Christopher May, Account Executive, Aridea Solutions, and Gary Slagel, Government Affairs Specialist, Steptoe & Johnson
This year’s event also included a panel of previous Innovation Contest winners that fielded questions posed by shale energy expert Katie Klaber, President of the Klaber Group. The panel that included KCF Technologies, Optimum Technologies, and PIX Controller addressed topics ranging from the support they’ve received from Ben Franklin and SGICC to the challenges they faced with the slowdown in the industry.
This year the contest also included a poster session showing off some of the cutting edge research and technologies under development by 4 regional universities (CMU, PITT, PSU, and WVU). Three posters were chosen as winners of $500 prizes and they were:
Contest Sponsors also praised the event. “Given the cyclical nature of the natural gas industry, a deliberate and focused effort on finding and developing new, innovative technologies has always been a huge differentiator for EQT – and the return on investment is particularly beneficial during a low-price, downturn environment”, noted Karl Coke, Senior Vice President of Innovation at EQT Production. “For this reason, EQT supports events such as the annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest, which provides tremendous learning opportunities and allows us to make connections that might otherwise have been missed.”
This year the contest also included a poster session showing off some of the cutting edge research and technologies under development by 4 regional universities (CMU, PITT, PSU, and WVU). Three posters were chosen as winners of $500 prizes and they were:
- Policy Options for the Detection and Abatement of Methane Emissions from the U.S. Natural Gas System – Submitted by Erin Mayfield, PhD Candidate, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
- Integrating Membrane Distillation with Waste Heat Sources for Affordable Produced Water Treatment in Pennsylvania - Submitted by Omkar Lokare, Graduate Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
- High Efficiency, Low Cost Hybrid System for Produced Water Distillation and Evaporation – Submitted by Dave Snyder, Department Head, Penn State Applied Research Lab
Contest Sponsors also praised the event. “Given the cyclical nature of the natural gas industry, a deliberate and focused effort on finding and developing new, innovative technologies has always been a huge differentiator for EQT – and the return on investment is particularly beneficial during a low-price, downturn environment”, noted Karl Coke, Senior Vice President of Innovation at EQT Production. “For this reason, EQT supports events such as the annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest, which provides tremendous learning opportunities and allows us to make connections that might otherwise have been missed.”
Finalists
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AccuCore Technologies
Developing a product capable of recovering and retaining in-situ conditions in a 30 foot core that is 3 1/2” in diameter with up to 12,000 psi of reservoir pressure, allowing the core to be processed at the surface to gather total gas and liquids volume measurements and sent to core labs for more detailed analysis Aridea Solutions Developing an on-demand pneumatic actuated valve system operated through a proprietary software interface via the internet (IoT), allowing remote control at hard to access midstream sites Compass Natural Gas Building compression stations to access significant volumes of natural gas to produce CNG for delivery via truck/trailer to small through large industrial, transport, agricultural, commercial, municipal, and other customers in the region that currently don’t have access to pipeline NG EKU Power Drives Providing a natural gas - electric hybrid solution (NG engines, e-motors, battery and power electronics in a single powertrain unit) that relies on a proprietary power pattern prediction software platform to optimize the operations, increasing the asset life, while facilitating electrification in off-grid industrial applications for pressure pumping applications Epiphany Providing a well pad based hybrid powered (solar, NG, or hard-wired) produced water remediation solution housed in 20 ft. shipping containers that uses a proprietary crystallizing chamber where all of the contaminants in the water drop out, leaving pure steam that can be further evaporated for zero discharge HalenHardy, LLC SPILLTRATION™ product line made from post-consumer and post-industrial materials, engineered to absorb and contain oil-based leaks and spills while allowing clean water to filter through, and for the products to be reused after oil is removed for recycling Intelligent Solutions Shale Production Optimization Technology (“SPOT”) – a data-driven modeling and optimization technology that uses production data to analyze, model, and optimize oil and gas production through better completion (stage length, number of stages, etc.) and hydraulic fracturing (amount and the rate of fluid and proppant injection, etc.) practices |
Mnergy Corporation
Unique virtual natural gas pipeline concept that utilizes a novel patented mobile front end reactor system to convert natural gas in to a solid NG-H2O mix, capturing the solid in a pellet form in tanks that will be transported to off-pipeline customers where the pellets will be turned back to CNG in the same delivery tank via a regasification process North Shore Energy Services “The Brine Box” is a modular treatment system housed in a 45 ft. shipping container capable of treating up to 2500BPD of frac/produced water, adding no chemicals, and removing suspended solids, hydrocarbons and scale factors to produce clean brine that has been used to frac without dilution with fresh water PULS, Inc. In collaboration with multiple equipment manufacturers, custom built an all-terrain utility vehicle that has equipment mounted to its frame allowing the exact location/ mapping of pipelines (capturing GPS location data) and simultaneously completing initial leak detection surveys Sensor Networks Flexible and scalable permanently installed ultrasonic sensor system that utilizes IoT communications to provide remote access to high accuracy wall thickness or corrosion rate measurements in a wide range of customer apps, including high-temp zones, underground pipelines, and code-mandated inspection points in refineries, chemical plants, etc. Technology Commercialization Corp. A polymer extruded production tubing having multiple small internal round passageways of equal diameter - a multi-channel production string, or “MCS” that is specifically designed for transporting multi-phase flow, reducing by 5 to 10 times the minimum gas velocity needed to maintain steady state flow up the well, avoiding/ forestalling liquid loading and increasing ultimate recovery at low cost |
Exhibitors
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Advanced Plasma Solutions
Non-thermal plasma can be used as a catalyst for chemical reactions. Company offering two NTP based technologies: (1) NTP reformer (gliding arc) that can convert methane to syngas, and (2) “PADL,” Plasma Assisted Direct Liquefaction of hydrocarbon gas Airnest Drone software company that offers an iPhone/iPad app that allows a flight path drawn with just a finger, and the drone will safely follow that path on autopilot while capturing video or camera stills; also allows control of camera by simply panning and tilting iOS device Cabello Mud Consulting Consultants in Drilling Fluids, Solids Control & Misting, and selling fresh water that is developing a full water management solution that consists of combining several technologies to process contaminated water with a zero discharge of contaminants Interphase Materials Providing performance additives to the coatings industry that prevent both corrosion and bio-fouling. Additives are safe enough to be used in medical implants but are effective enough to prevent biological accumulation and inhibit both biofouling and corrosion KCF Technologies* Company “gives machines a voice” utilizing wireless vibration sensor diagnostics and transmitting data via the cloud to provide a system-level dashboard that reports equipment health, avoiding problems like unexpected failures of pumps, fans, and compressors |
Lawrie Technology
Developing a carbon fiber/epoxy composite “smartline” that is a monolithic composite member encapsulating either a fiber optic sensor or a coaxial cable, offering a smart wireline capable of transmitting power for control of tools and data transmission from inserted sensors in well bores Optimum Pumping Technology* Offers high-performance manifolds for reciprocating NG compressors that eliminate pulsation control bottles and their vibration-related failures, significantly improving compressor reliability and operating efficiency Pix Controller* Methane gas detection system that integrates a digital methane sensor with temperature and barometric pressure data and provides data access via a low power battery operated wireless monitoring backbone Sourcewater Offers and online water exchange marketplace for the O&G industry for sourcing, recycling, transporting and disposing of water for energy production, minimizing the single largest operating cost, water management, and ensuring a reliable mission-critical water supply chain TM Filtration* Provides filtration technology to effectively separate for removal the NGL’s and other contaminates (including water) from natural gas through the use of their Gas Flow Membrane Technology *Denotes Previous Contest Winner |
Sponsors
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About SGICC
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The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) supports and commercializes early-stage technologies that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this energy asset.
For further information: Bill Hall/ Director Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center 814-933-8203 billhall@psu.edu |
