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On May 15, 2014, the Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center will announce the four winners of their Shale Gas Innovation Contest at an event to be held from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe, PA.  Each winner will receive a check for $25,000.

Vying for the prize money are two firms based in West Virginia:

• NG Innovations, Inc., of Cross Lanes for its “C-FIT” unit that identifies the density and amount of fluid being transported and identifies the loading/unloading points, and tracks and date/time stamps truck movement via satellite.
• Carbon Fiber Composites of Ona for its “out of autoclave” process to produce lower cost high strength carbon fiber composites for use in O&G applications where corrosion resistance is paramount.

More than 80 applicants entered this year’s competition, from which 13 finalists were chosen. Of the 80 applicants, 22 came from 18 companies in West Virginia. This year’s event was expanded to include finalists and exhibitors from the State of West Virginia, thanks to a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation that has allowed the SGICC to expand the contest to include WV entrants through the 2016 contest.

TechConnectWV, the INNOVA Commercialization Group, and WVU’s Office of Research & Economic Development assisted with marketing the 2013-14 contest to help identify potential applicants in West Virginia.

The goal of the competition is to identify and develop job-creating shale gas technologies that cover the entire gamut of the shale gas play – from exploration and extraction technologies, environmental and safety products and service concepts to water and wastewater focused technologies, data management concepts, and multiple downstream gas and NGL utilization technologies.

The May 15^th event will feature presentations by the finalists and the awards presentation. Attendees will also hear from industry leaders Chevron Technology Ventures, GE Oil & Gas, and Uday Turaga, CEO of ADI Analytics.  In addition, Matt Henderson from the Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research (PSU MCOR) will provide a snapshot of the regional shale energy play and NG/NGL Utilization Options.

The event is free to attend, but registration is required.  Register here.  A reception will immediately follow the finalist’s presentations, and representatives from each of the companies will be there to highlight their shale gas innovation concepts.

The finalists are:

• Advanced-Tec Materials, LLC – Micron sized rigid foam particles used as an additive for high performance drilling muds
• Carbon Fiber Composites, Inc.   – An “out of autoclave” process to produce lower cost high strength carbon fiber composites for use in O&G applications where corrosion resistance is paramount
• DocuCluster – Internet accessible search tool for courthouse/ public records, providing automated analysis and mapping of records including simultaneous searching of every database
• Dynamo Micropower, Inc. – Modular 10KW micro-turbine with novel fuel delivery system that allows it to operate on a variety of liquid and gaseous fuels while only requiring annual maintenance
• Imperial Systems, Inc. – Particulate collection & control equipment that improves safety, while lowering emissions and energy use while transferring the sand in the frac process
• KCF Technologies, Inc. – SmartDiagnostics® system that enables low cost predictive maintenance for rotating O&G Equipment
• LaserSense, Inc. – “Robust Laser Interferometer (RLI)” device that could measure vibration and acoustic emissions (AE) down hole during drilling operations
• NG Innovations, Inc. – “C-FIT” unit identifies the density and amount of fluid being transported and identifies the loading/unloading points, and tracks and date/time stamps truck movement via satellite
• Odum & Lambrou Innovations, LLC –  Double walled fire tube glycol regeneration system that cuts start up time in half, reduces fuel gas costs, extends the life of glycol, prolongs fire tube life and greatly reduces maintenance
• OPTIMUM Pumping Technology – High-performance manifolds for reciprocating NG compressors that eliminate pulsation control bottles and their vibration-related failures, improving compressor reliability and operating efficiency
• Quantum Vortex, Inc. –  Hydrodynamic siren for boosting O&G production from new/ existing wells, or stripper wells through ultrasonic cleaning
• TM Industrial Supply – Filtration technology to effectively coalesce and separate NGL’s and other contaminates from NG through the use of Gas Flow Membrane Technology
• U. of Pitt (Radisav Vidic) – Controlled mixing of Mine Drainage and flowback water to deliver desired quality of the blended water in terms of lower sulfate content and salinity for use in fracking process

This year’s contest was co-sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners (http://www.benfranklin.org), ANGA (www.anga.us), Aquatech (www.Aquatech.com),Baker Hughes (www.bakerhughes.com), Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (www.cabotog.com), CONSOL Energy (www.consolenergy.com), Chesapeake Energy (www.chk.com), Chevron (http://www.chevron.com/ctv/), EQT (www.eqt.com), First National Bank (www.fnb-online.com ), GE Oil & Gas (http://www.ge-energy.com), Little Pine Resources (http://littlepineresources.com), the Marcellus Shale Coalition (http://marcelluscoalition.org), PPG Industries (www.ppg.com) , Praxair (www.praxair.com), Range Resources, Seneca Resources(http://www.natfuel.com/seneca/) and Williams  (http://co.williams.com/).