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temperatures to electrical power
using a patented heat exchanger and turbine/generator
arrangement. Other technologies and services include: (1) the
Super CCLC, which uses steam and condensate to supplementary
heat the working fluid, (2) the Final Flue Gas Cleanup System,
which creates a single system to remove multiple pollutants in
low temperature flue gas streams, and (3) engineering services
that require a multidisciplinary approach to look at energy
efficiency and pollution reduction possibilities. Assuming
that the technology is applicable to 20% of the waste heat
energy market, the market potential is enormous, on the order
of 160 GigaWatts. Industries that could apply this technology
include gas pipelines, metals and chemicals, pulp and paper,
power plants and renewable sources.
Franklin Fuel Cells
of Malvern, Pennsylvania was founded in November 2001 (www.franklin
fuelcells.com). Their mission is "to accelerate
fuel cell commercialization by developing and producing a
unique solid oxide fuel cell technology which is capable of
operating directly on today's hydrocarbon fuels." The problem
this technology addresses is that current fuel cell
technologies need pure hydrogen or need to reform current
fuels. The technology is currently in Phase II, Proof of
Commercial Viability with initial product revenues expected in
2008. The Phase I Proof of Concept suggests that this fuel
cell will compete with internal combustion engines, being
twice as efficient and competitive in cost per horsepower.
Early applications are expected to be in auxiliary power units
for trucks and recreational vehicles and distributed
generation, then expanding into the traditional internal
combustion transportation market. The potential applications
in the oil and gas industry include remote power for offshore
applications and in-situ oil shale and heavy oil heating.
The final featured company was
10 Charge, Inc. of Dallas.
Their proprietary technology was initially developed in 2001
in Europe. The technology was purchased and brought to the
U.S. in 2004. The primary technology is the development of
smart, fast battery chargers that deliver the optimal charge
for a given battery's unique and dynamic conditions. It is
capable of performing as a multi-chemistry charger across a
range of previously incompatible battery sizes and types,
reducing charge time by up to 90%, and extending the life of
the battery by 200% or more. The initial market will be for
use with power tools and |
consumer electronics, then eventually into
industrial markets. The product recently completed testing of
the first commercially-designed product.
In addition to the six featured technologies
and companies, two of last year's featured firms were invited
to provide an update on their products and progress. The first
was TerraVici Drilling Solutions,
of Houston (www.terravici.com).
TerraVici is a technology development firm that provides
low-cost drilling and completion tools to the oil and gas
industry. Their first product is a full 3-D, low-cost,
point-the-bit rotary steerable system (RSS) that is designed
to outperform most rotary steerable systems on drilling
performance at a fraction of the price. The X2 Rotary
Steerable SystemŽ will be ready for commercial use in 2006. At
15 feet long, the X2 is half as long as the conventional
rotary steerable tool configuration, providing savings in
capital and operating expenses. The enabling technology is a
novel control mechanism, adapted from the automotive industry,
that reduces control costs by a factor of 10 without
sacrificing performance. The lower cost of the tool will
substantially expand the RSS market to include the smaller
directional drilling and operating companies.
The other company providing an update from
the previous forum was Oxane
Materials, Inc. (www.oxane
materials.com), a Rice University
nanotechnology spinoff. Oxane is exploring two innovations,
alumoxanes and ferroxanes to enable the development of next
generation fuel cell membranes, catalyst supports, coatings,
adsorbents, and other high-value products.
Technology of the Future
Vikram Rao of Halliburton Company,
the invited keynote speaker, addressed "Technology to Counter
Oil and Gas Shortages (Real or Perceived)." Halliburton is
bullish on future oil and gas supply. Rao began with a quote
from Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), "a large
unprecedented buildup of oil supply in the next few
years.....relieve the current pressure on supply and demand."
Rao structured his comments by examining the resource for
future oil and natural gas in the short-, medium-, and
long-term future and the technologies that will be required to
produce those hydrocarbons. |
Looking at oil, the short-term supplies will
require higher recovery rates of conventional oil and the
exploitation of increasingly mature fields. The medium term
will bring in more heavy oil, recovered both cold (7 - 20
degrees API) and with thermal assist (7 to 12 degrees API). In
the long term, the mining of bitumen will grow from the
traditional onshore, to offshore resources. The commercial
technologies on the leading edge today are being directed at
the conventional resources and mature field. For heavy oil,
technology improvements will be needed in lifting (increasing
mobility downhole, chemically and thermally) and
transportation, decreasing viscosity and partial upgrades in
the field. Possible technology for recovery of offshore
bitumen would include applying heat downhole or in-situ
retorting.
In the short term, unconventional gas
supplies, tight gas, coalbed methane, and shales, will
continue to grow in the supply mix. In the medium term, coal
gasification and asphaltene gasification will come into play.
In the longer term, gas hydrates and in-situ coal gasification
will enter the supply. The technologies that will be required
to economically extract that gas are in the early R&D stages.
Where is Today's Research?
A number of research institutions in
the Gulf are engaged in energy and energy-related research,
not the least of which are Rice and the University of Houston.
Forum participants heard details from four ongoing projects.
Topics ranged from produced water issues to EOR surfactants
and alkaline/surfactants processes to fuel cell advances.
Beyond the universities, there is also the non-profit Houston
Advanced Research Center (HARC) (www.
harc.edu). HARC functions as a non-partisan
"Boundary Organization" between the research organizations and
commercialization in technology and between the universities
and governments and public sector for policy issues.
Learn more about the Rice Alliance for
Technology and Entrepreneurship through their website (www.alliance.rice.edu).
Read about past and upcoming events and success stories, sign
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sponsor. |
State-of-the-Art
Summary