The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) has named a dozen finalists in its annual Shale Gas Innovation Competition, which will award a total of $75,000 to three winners to be selected next month.

The finalists include Atlantis Technologies, for its radial deionization wastewater treatment technology; Atonarp, for real-time natural gas monitoring; Calyx Bioprocess Technologies, for biological technology to upgrade syngas to fuels, lubricants and high-value chemicals; Clean Power Resources, for designing compressed natural gas-powered refrigeration systems for mobile transportation; KCF Technologies, for its SmartDiagnostics system, which enables predictive maintenance for rotating machinery; LaserSense, for its Robust Laser Interferometer, a laser-based device that measures vibration/acoustic emissions during drilling; and Lasers for Innovative Solutions, for its Laser Ablation Tomography System, which vaporizes drill cuttings or core layers capturing compositional data.

Other finalists are Lewis Environmental, for a water treatment process that upgrades acid mine drainage by removing heavy metals and sulfates; Nittany Laser Technologies, for custom laser tools for cladding the inside of oil and gas piping and equipment; ProChemTech, for electrolytic bromine generator technology to generate biocide for use in fracking; Pyrochem Catalyst, for catalyst technology for natural gas conversion to synthesis gas; and REV LNG, which supplies mobile liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations and small scale mobile plants to convert natural gas to LNG.

ProChemTech was also a finalist in last year’s competition (see Shale Daily, May 29, 2012).

The winners are scheduled to be announced by Terry Engelder, a geosciences professor at Pennsylvania State University, at an SGICC reception May 7 in Southpointe, PA.

This year’s contest is co-sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, America’s Natural Gas Alliance, Acorn Energy, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Consol Energy, Chesapeake Energy, The Dow Chemical Co., First National Bank, Little Pine Resources, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, OsComp Systems and Praxair.