University Spin-Out - Nittany Extraction Technologies - Wins Prestigious Innovation Award

Sept. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- STATE COLLEGE, PA - Chosen from more than three dozen submissions, Nittany Extraction Technologies LLC, a start-up company that recently received an investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Central and Northern (http://www.cnp.benfranklin.org), was named as one of the winners of the Innovation Expo at last week’s Shale Gas Insight Conference.  Sponsored by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, this inaugural conference, which was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, highlighted emerging technologies that will have a positive impact on the Marcellus Natural Gas Industry. The applicants were judged by a Technical Advisory Committee charged with evaluating each proposal based on their appeal to the natural gas industry and their promotion of safe and abundant oil and natural gas development.

Nittany Extraction Technologies LLC is commercializing the research of Penn State University professors John Hellmann and Barry Scheetz , both of whom work in the University’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and College of Engineering.   Rounding out the team is Martin Bradley, Dr. Ryan Koseski, co-inventor of the technology, and Timothy Hurley. The company has developed an innovative process that uses low-cost, widely available waste materials such as mine tailings, in the production of proppants.  In short, proppants are used to “prop” open rock fractures that occur during the drilling process, creating a pathway for the transmission of hydrocarbons and maintaining the porosity needed to allow the flow of oil and gas.  

According to Mr. William Hall, the Director of Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (http://www.sgicc.org), “Because of the Marcellus Shale resource, Pennsylvania is likely to become one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world. The ability to manufacture cost effective proppants here in the state represents a very significant commercial opportunity.   We’re proud to support the work of researchers and small businesses that are developing new technologies or improving upon existing ones that will make the industry safer, more efficient, and more productive.”


About the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center

The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) is designed to harness innovation and new technologies as a means to maximize the economic return to Pennsylvania’s citizens from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.  The Center’s goal is to increase sustainable employment and wealth creation in Pennsylvania that has the potential to outlast the initial exploration, production and transportation of natural gas from the formations.  The Center will also identify, support and commercialize technologies and early-stage businesses that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this transformative energy asset.

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About Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Central and Northern

Ben Franklin Technology Partners CNP, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, provides investment capital, operational assistance, and entrepreneurial support to emerging tech-based companies and small, established businesses/manufacturers for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs in Pennsylvania. Contact the central office of Ben Franklin in University Park at (814) 863-4559 or see our website at www.cnp.benfranklin.org