STATE COLLEGE, PA – The ten finalists for the 2017 Shale Gas Innovation Contest have been chosen!  Three winners will each walk away with $20,000 at the Sixth Annual Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center’s FREE Finals’ Event scheduled for May 9, 2017, in Southpointe, PA!

The list of ten finalists can be viewed HERE , along with the link to register. The technologies competing for the prize money cover a broad spectrum of shale energy related needs, including gas utilization, on- site power generation, down-hole solutions, maintenance, software, and EH&S solutions. 

This year’s Finals’ Event will run from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe, PA. The keynote speaker, Rich Hufnagel with Verizon, will focus on the opportunities presented to companies through the rapidly advancing Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and discuss how network connectivity of products can expand B2B opportunities.

Immediately following the announcement of the contest winners there will be a free reception where attendees can meet the finalists at their booths and mingle with additional exhibitors. Additionally, a poster session will be included to highlight some of the most promising technologies under development at Carnegie Mellon and Penn State Universities related to the shale energy space.​

The Sixth Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest’s GOLD Sponsor is Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Industry sponsors include: AquaTech, Chevron Technology Ventures, EQT Corporation, Fluid Recovery Systems, LPR Energy, LPR Land Services, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Praxair, Range Resources, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, and Williams. Non-Profit sponsors include: Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, and the Penn State University’s Institute for Natural Gas Research.

“Innovations are now more than ever critically important to the industry as we manage through this downtown,” explains Bill Hall, director of Ben Franklin Technology Partner’s Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC). “Continuous innovation is needed in every sector of the industry and all along the value chain.”

Last month, SGICC announced three Pennsylvania winners — chosen from 12 finalists  — in its 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest. Each company received $20,000 to further develop and market its innovative product or service.

Pittsburgh’s Epiphany Water Solutions, one of the winners, provides a water remediation solution with a zero discharge option.

“The downturn has actually provided us with more business opportunities,” says Gordon Craig, Epiphany’s chief technology officer. “During booms, the current cheapest way to handle produced water is to reuse it at a nearby frack. During downtowns when fracking slows, operators still need to dispose of or treat the produced water. Our technology provides the operator with a low-cost treatment alternative that allows them to continue gas production in a low-cost gas environment.”

HalenHardy in Bellwood develops solutions for environmental and safety problems in the mobile industrial workforce. To survive the downtown, the company — founded in 2013 — pivoted to focus 80 percent of its attention on other industries such as heavy construction, utilities and refining.

In the oil and gas space, they focused “on products and services that helped companies immediately save money,” says co-founder and CEO Donny Beaver. “[Things] like our glove and flow-line safety restraint cleaning services and our Spilltration [oil cleanup] products.”

The third winner, Compass Natural Gas of Mechanicsburg, builds compression stations to produce compressed natural gas (CNG) for delivery via truck or trailer to customers without access to pipeline natural gas.

“In this low-price environment, the oil and gas industry is hard at work to shore up shareholder value,” explained SGICC in a blog post. “The focus is on continued efficiency, cost reduction and process improvement… Costs can be lowered and processes can be improved at every facet of the play.
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“This is exactly the space that [SGICC] works in every day. Our mission is to identify and support the effort to commercialize technical innovations to provide value to the shale energy industry in the Commonwealth. We are the only group in the nation that focuses solely on this effort — and it’s happening right here in Pennsylvania”.

By Elise Vider – Original Source: http://www.keystoneedge.com/2016/06/14/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-get-innovating-the-5th-shale-gas-innovation-contest-winners/​

In this low-price environment, the oil and gas industry is hard at work to shore up shareholder value. The focus is on continued efficiency, cost reduction and process improvement. Continuous innovation is needed in every sector of the industry and all along the value chain. Costs can be lowered and processes can be improved at every facet of the play.
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This is exactly the space that the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) works in every day. Our mission is to identify and support the effort to commercialize technical innovations to provide value to the shale energy industry in the commonwealth. We are the only group in the nation that focuses solely on this effort – and it’s happening right here in Pennsylvania.

The first step in our process is to identify those innovations that can provide value to the industry. This can be a daunting task. Five years ago, we created the Shale Gas Innovation Contest with cash prizes to the winners as a way to bring innovations to us. The cash prizes are generated by sponsor contributions, and the sponsors are also the judging panel. Our sponsors include major players and independent companies from every sector of the shale energy industry. We have received over 40 applications this year and narrowed the field to determine the most promising innovations. Attendees at the Final Event will see exhibits and hear presentations from over 20 innovative companies as they share details regarding their latest products and services that will positively impact the shale energy industry. At the end of the day, the judges will select the four finalists that each will win $20,000.

The 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn just southwest of Pittsburgh from 1p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18. This is a free event put on by the SGICC, a Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern PA (BFTP/CNP) supported center located in State College, Pennsylvania.

For the last five years, the SGICC has been hard at work supporting myriad entrepreneurs across the state hoping to launch a new product or service to help positively impact the process of shale energy extraction, resource utilization, or improving the safety and environmentally sound practices being used during the process. Bill Hall, SGICC director, spends his time focused on advancing the most promising ideas.
“Until you’ve been in the trenches, so to speak, it’s hard to explain how challenging it is to advance an idea all the way to being a commercially successful product or service,” said Hall. “My job is to sort through dozens of promising ideas and identify ones that SGICC can impact through shining a light on them, helping them vet their concept with potential end users and, in some cases, providing an infusion of outside investment funds through the Ben Franklin Technology Partners program.”

Regarding the SGICC team’s overall effort, Hall commented: “It’s important to understand that this is way more than a one-event contest; it’s the beginning of relationships formed with SGICC that can lead to introductions to potential customers and potential Ben Franklin funding. It is extremely difficult for these small companies to reach major industry players without the help of the SGICC. It’s equally difficult for major players to see past the noise of innovators clamoring for a spot on their vendor list. Many of these major players look to the SGICC vetting process to provide them connections and to perform the initial screening, uncovering quality technology improvements.”

The shale energy play also offers a new playing field for entrepreneurs and can be a new market for an existing product or service being used in other sectors. For example, KCF Technologies, located in State College and a BFTP/CNP-funded company, has commercialized a low-cost, low-power sensor that is used for wireless monitoring of rotating equipment known as condition-based maintenance. Industries like pulp and paper, as well as the building maintenance sector, embraced KCF’s technology years ago, but their concept was new to the shale energy players. Through hard work and persistence and with the support of SGICC, KCF is now rapidly deploying its capability across the industry. Its product improves safety during drilling and fracking while saving the E&P companies significant dollars by increasing productivity and significantly lowering maintenance costs.

Ben Lawrence, KCF’s vice president of sales, commented: “Where would our business be without Ben Franklin Technology Partners? For starters, we would likely be stuck in startup mode and trying to figure out how to commercialize our technology. When it comes to gaining traction within the shale energy sector, the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center has been especially helpful. SGICC is an organization we truly appreciate because they go the extra mile to help with real-world business introductions and trade show exposure. These guys don’t just fund back-office R&D; they take their small business partners by the arm and pull us into real-world customer meetings. They are a model organization leading PA entrepreneurs out of their shells, into the streets, and winning the sales game.”

SGICC has utilized the annual Shale Gas Innovation Contests to identify the majority of the novel technologies under development that they’ve helped advance. Now approaching the fifth contest, the center has a solid base of industry sponsors that provides the prize money to the chosen winners. These companies also supply the contest judges engaged in vetting the technologies.

Dante Bonaquist, senior corporate fellow, R&D at Praxair, is another sponsor and judge. “Through the Shale Gas Innovation Contest, SGICC brings together a broad range of promising ideas covering production, transportation, and utilization,” he said. From the technology-scouting perspective, there is no better opportunity to see high-caliber, shale gas-related innovations on display at a single event.”

This year’s contest also will include a keynote address by Joe Frantz, vice president of engineering for the Marcellus Shale Division of Range Resources Corp. Frantz will share his views regarding Range Resources’ innovation strategies, noting, “Range’s operational team continues to be creative and efficient in how we do our work, from small steps to large-scale changes, to help reduce costs. Last year alone, Range saw drilling costs drop by 21 percent per lateral foot, combined with a 33 percent reduction in completion costs.” Frantz’s presentation will focus on Range’s key drivers in well cost reductions and the application of technology to improve overall performance.

The contest uncovers a broad array of technologies. Any new technology that could be employed along the entire O&G industry value chain is of interest. This includes natural gas or NGL utilization concepts; exploration or drilling/fracturing-related technologies; water management or technologies such as novel coatings or chemicals, sensors, IT management concepts, and EH&S focused technologies.
To learn more about the upcoming Shale Gas Innovation Contest Finals Event, go towww.sgicc.org and click on the “2016 Shale Gas Innovation Contest” button. Information regarding all of the companies participating can be found there as well as registration information to attend the free event.
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As part of the statewide Ben Franklin Technology Partners network, the Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center is designed to vet new technology concepts, business strategies, or products/services directed towards the shale energy play, and when appropriate to provide access to seed capital that will help move promising concepts and early stage small companies forward. ​

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.” ​

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:

• 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.”

Finalist presentations and additional details on the event are posted at http://www.sgicc.org/finals-event-2016-shale-gas-innovation-contest.html. 

This 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest’s GOLD sponsor is the Ben Franklin Technology Partners (http://www.benfranklin.org). Industry sponsors include: Chevron Technology Ventures (http://www.chevron.com/ctv/ctvi/), EQT Corporation (https://www.eqt.com), First National Bank (www.fnb-online.com), GE Transportation  (http://www.getransportation.com/), LPR Energy (http://www.lprenergy.com/), LPR Land Services (http://www.lprls.com/), the Marcellus Shale Coalition (http://marcelluscoalition.org), PPG Industries (http://corporate.ppg.com/), Praxair (www.praxair.com), Steptoe & Johnson PLLC (http://www.steptoe-johnson.com/ ), and Williams (www.williamsinthenortheast.com). Non-Profit sponsors include: Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation (http://www.cmu.edu/energy/), Penn State University’s Institute for Natural Gas Research (http://www.ems.psu.edu/INGaR), the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Energy (http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/cfe/), and West Virginia University’s Energy Institute (http://energy.wvu.edu/). And the Media sponsor for this year’s event is the Marcellus Business Central (http://www.pabusinesscentral.com/). 

About the SGICC
 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.  ​

PHILADELPHIA -- A call-to-action from a fracking study is inspiring innovation in the natural gas industry. At least one of those innovators is based in Pittsburgh, and that company was featured this week at the Marcellus Shale Coalition's annual natural gas meeting.

In 2011, a case study published in the Society of Petroleum Engineers journal discussed the problem of biocides -- a toxic substance used in hydraulic fracturing.

Environmental groups took notice. So did chemists. One chemist representing the American Chemical Society pointed out that biocides " are designed to kill bacteria— it’s not a benign material.”

The use of biocides "has come under increasing scrutiny since high biocide concentrations in flowback water increase fluid cost and limit the options for disposal," read the abstract of the SPE study.

So the study made a not-so-subtle suggestion: There should be a way to make biocides less harmful.

Enter Dirk Thomas Solutions.

During the Technology Showcase of the Marcellus Shale Coalition's Shale Insight meeting Wednesday in Philadelphia, nine companies presented new ideas they hoped to bring to the natural gas industry.

Mike Derzack presented on behalf of Dirk Thomas Solutions, a company he runs with his son, Cameron. The Derzacks are based in Wexford.

Their company created a nontoxic method to disinfect frack water -- an alternative to the current biocide regimen. Their solution is cheaper than current biocide methodology, safer, simpler, and it reduces the amount of wastewater that needs to be thrown away, Mike Derzack said.

Why now?

The Derzacks are new to the natural gas industry. Entering that industry right now -- especially in the upstream market, at a time when many businesses are scaling back on tracking new wells -- might seem like an inopportune choice. It might seem even more unusual if you know anything about Mike's recent professional background.

Mike has dabbled in real estate, selling homes for Keller-Williams and Coldwell Banker. He's also involved in a vacation business, travel-adventures.net; and a snow removal service, Alert Snow. He once owned a successful printing shop in downtown Pittsburgh.

But Derzack's educational background is in science. He graduated with a degree in biological chemistry from Albright College. After working in labs for Johnson and Johnson after college, Derzack moved to Pittsburgh with the company in a program that trained chemists to be salespeople. That gave him the bug. He got an MBA from Robert Morris and has pursued various business adventures since then, encouraging his family to take part.

"We've always been a family of entrepreneurs," he said.

How did they find their way into natural gas?

Derzack says the family snow removal service uses brine --- salt water -- to clear roads. Brine is a key ingredient in the fracking process, so his company started selling to local oil and gas companies. From there, they made contacts with drillers, and became aware of the SPE study and the need to come up with a solution to the biocide problem.

A business was born.

A better answer?

The Derzacks' company is just starting out. It has one client, Energy Corp. of America, and it's doing fracking work at ECA's wells in Greene County. But the move to address the biocide problem is catching on elsewhere. When Mike spoke Wednesday at Shale Insight's Technology Showcase, eight other companies also presented. One other was a biocide company. That Bellefonte, Pa.-based company, FyreRok Biofluids, won the conference's 3rd Annual Shale Gas Environmental, Health, & Safety Award. FyreRok developed its own nontoxic biocide to treat frack water.

Bill Hall, director of the BFSGIC said. he's glad to see companies trying to solve the biocide problem.

"The best innovations solve a problem," he told the Business Times. He elaborated in a statement: “The shale energy industry must continue to operate in an exemplary manner, exceeding stakeholder’s expectations in the environmental, health, and safety areas."

And even though the Derzacks' biocide solution lost out to FyreRok in the award, Derzack's not discouraged.

"If we get this going, we'll be profitable enough to stop doing our other businesses," he said. "We really think this could be big."

Matt Stroud is energy reporter for the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Original Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2015/09/18/toxic-frack-problem-could-have-its-solution-in.html

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) announced the winner of their Third Annual Shale Gas Environmental, Health, & Safety (EH&S) Award at the SHALE INSIGHT 2015™ Conference. The award was presented to FyreRok Biofluids, a Bellefonte, PA, based company that has developed a new, novel and safe technology to produce hypochlorous acid at well pad sites to be used to treat water used in the hydrofracturing process.

“We are thrilled to have been chosen to receive this award!”

Bill Hall, Executive Director of SGICC commented, “The shale energy industry needs to operate in an exemplary manner, exceeding stakeholder’s expectations in the environmental, health, and safety areas. This is integral to the industry being provided their social license to operate. They must continue to gain the trust and respect of the Commonwealth’s citizens, the workers they employ, and the communities where they operate. Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center is excited to once again shine a light on a Pennsylvania-based company that is helping the industry achieve this standing.”

FyreRok Biofluids, a subsidiary of FyreRok Reservoir Consulting, LLC, has developed a methodology to produce a highly efficient, non-toxic biocide, hypochlorous acid, in real-time to treat the bacteria present in fracturing fluids. Hypochlorous acid has been around for many years but never adapted to the demands of today’s massive fracturing treatments due to delivery constraints and shelf-life. The FyreRok technology resolves these issues.

“We are thrilled to have been chosen to receive this award!” commented Grafton Withers, President of FyreRok Biofluids. “We are currently demonstrating our patented technology to E&P and service companies to show its simplicity, its reliability, and the efficiency of the biocide in treating fracturing fluids.”

The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org), an initiative of Ben Franklin Technology Partners/CNP (http://www.cnp.benfranklin.org) is designed to harness innovation and new technologies as a means to maximize the economic return to Pennsylvania’s citizens from the various shale formations comprise part of the energy reserves of the Commonwealth. The Center also identifies, supports and helps commercialize technologies and early-stage businesses that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this transformative energy asset.

ContactsShale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC)
Bill Hall, Executive Director, 814-863-4881
billhall@psu.edu

Frac fluid biocide wins industry award

​The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) announced FyreRok Biofluids won the 3rd Annual Shale Gas Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) Award today. FyreRok, a Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, based company, was given the EH&S Award for its technology which develops a hypochlorous acid at well pad sites to use as a non-toxic biocide to treat water used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

Bill Hall, Executive Director of SGICC commented, “The shale energy industry must continue to operate in an exemplary manner, exceeding stakeholder’s expectations in the environmental, health, and safety areas. This is integral to the industry being provided their social license to operate, gaining the trust and respect of the Commonwealth’s citizens, as well as the workers they employ and the communities where they operate. Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center is excited to once again shine a light on a Pennsylvania based company that is helping the industry achieve this standing.”

FyreRok’s “FyreCide 45” is an EPA and FDA-approved biocide for the onsite treatment of water both pre- and post-frac. According to the company, it has been known for some time that hypochlorous acid is more effective than traditional biocides, but the challenge has come from finding a cost-effective way to use them in large scale, multi-million gallon frac jobs.

The SGICC holds a competition in May in which each of the four winners received $25,000 of seed money to fund their projects.

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Original Source: ​http://www.oilandgas360.com/frac-water-biocide-wins-competition-for-innovation/