On Tuesday in Pittsburgh during the 6th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest the following three companies each walked away with a winner’s check for $20,000:

-- Frontier Natural Resources, Inc. -- Commercialized the first small scale natural gas liquefaction facility in Pennsylvania utilizing natural gas from an adjacent gathering and compression facility. Second site under development uses stranded natural gas, opening opportunities across the state and nation.

-- PetroMar Technologies, Inc. -- Commercializing FracView™, a low-cost LWD borehole imaging tool utilizing advanced dynamically focused acoustic transducer technology to obtain a very high resolution acoustic borehole image in any oil/synthetic liquid or synthetic) mud system

-- Sensor Networks, Inc. -- Offering product line of permanently installed battery powered ultrasonic sensors, providing remote, wireless data collection of critical piping infrastructure's wall thickness

In addition to the three winners, a fourth technology submitted by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory by Kelly Rose, Technology Geology & Geospatial Researcher, was highly praised by the contest judges and attendees, and was named the contest’s Innovative R&D Winner. The summary of that technology follows:

-- NETL -- Developed a cost effective and near real-time early kick detection system that leverages data obtained from logging while drilling, measurement while drilling, or seismic while drilling signals to provide an early warning before the kick ascends to the rig floor

NETL is seeking partners to continue demonstrate and validate the technology, and a potential licensing partner to commercialize the technology.

Regarding the overall event, Bill Hall, Ben Franklin SGICC Director noted, “All of the finalists again displayed the diversity of ideas being brought forward by regional entrepreneurs and small companies. Continuous innovation is advancing every aspect of how the oil and gas industry operates, and uncovering these novel technologies is exactly what the Shale Gas Innovation Contest is all about.”

Loren Anderson, Director Technical Affairs at the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a contest sponsor and event judge commented, “Every year the Innovation Contest provides a platform for new technologies that are ready for deployment. With an ever changing and fast paced industry, these technologies provide solutions and improvements for our member’s operations in the Appalachian Basin.”

Tim Miller, Engineering Manager at Frontier Natural Resources commented, "We are honored to be recognized by the SGICC Shale Gas Innovation Contest as a 2017 Contest Winner. We value our relationship with SGICC and their encouragement of valuable innovations that continue to improve the safety and efficiency of the shale gas industry. We look forward to continuing to provide affordable and clean energy to all industries across Pennsylvania."

At the event two winners were also announced for posters presented by students from CMU and Penn State. The winners were:

-- Cold Energy Recovery from LNG Regasification, submitted by Nyla Khan, M.S. Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; and

-- Fast and Robust Pattern Recognition for Re-Stimulation Candidate Selection using Subsurface Big Data, submitted by Eddie Udegbe, PhD Candidate, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University

Finalist presentations and additional details on the event are available online.

This 6th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest’s GOLD Sponsor was the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Industry sponsors included: 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 included: Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, and the Penn State University’s Institute for Natural Gas Research.

[Posted: May 12, 2017]

5/15/2017