Wednesday 20th May 2009
Oxford Catalysts Signs MOU with Potter Drilling, Inc.
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading innovator for clean fuels, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with Potter Drilling, Inc. (“Potter Drilling”), a google.org funded company, to explore the incorporation of Oxford Catalysts' Instant Steam technology into Potter Drilling's hydrothermal spallation drilling technology (“technology”) to use superheated fluid for drilling through hard rocks.
Under the terms of the MOU, the two companies are evaluating an application to generate the necessary heat for use in Potter Drilling's drilling tool for geothermal wells.
Geothermal wells can be slow and expensive to drill using conventional rotary drilling methods due to the fact that wells are often sunk deep into hard crystalline rocks which are difficult and slow to penetrate and which quickly wear down the drill bits. Potter Drilling's technology overcomes these problems by using superheated fluid to drill through the rocks, rather than relying on the abrasive cutting power of a rotating drill bit.
The technology that is being tested will require Oxford Catalysts’ Instant Steam catalyst to be contained within the drill head to help produce the superheated fluid that is necessary. Oxford Catalysts' technology involves passing a liquid fuel over a proprietary catalyst. This triggers a spontaneous and highly exothermic reaction whilst releasing high temperature steam. Potter Drilling intends to undertake field trials next year.
The market for geothermal energy − thermal energy harnessed from the Earth’s crust − is currently very small and supplies less than 1% of the world's energy. With continued advances in technology, geothermal energy could potentially be used to produce enough electricity, sustainably, to meet a large portion of the world's energy demands.
Roy Lipski, Chief Executive of Oxford Catalysts said:
“Potter Drilling's technology is an exciting new application for Instant Steam. We look forward to working with them to explore the greater use of geothermal heat for clean, environmentally friendly electricity generation.”
Tom Wideman, Chief Technology Officer at Potter Drilling said:
“Oxford Catalyst's Instant Steam technology is ideally suited to produce the heat for Potter Drilling's hydrothermal spallation drilling technology. Potter Drilling is looking forward to demonstrating the use of Instant Steam to produce well bores in hard rock during our field trials next year.”
| Dave Wardle, Business Development Director, Oxford Catalysts | +44 (0)1235 841 700 |
| Billy Clegg/Alex Beagley, Financial Dynamics | +44 (0)20 7831 3113 |
Notes to Editors
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC designs and develops technology for the production of clean fuels from both conventional fossil fuels and renewable sources such as biowaste.
The Group is primarily focused on the emerging market for distributed smaller scale production of synthetic fuels (via Fischer-Tropsch) − a market that has the potential of producing as much as 25 million barrels of fuel a day.
The Fischer-Tropsch (“FT”) reaction is used when converting natural gas, coal or biomass into virtually sulphur-free liquid synthetic fuels, known as GTL, CTL and BTL respectively. The Group is the recognised world leader in the design and development of high-activity catalysts and associated novel chemical reactors for the small scale production of synthetic fuels. (The Group’s reactor technology − known as microchannel process technology − is currently marketed under the brand name of Velocys).
Other Group technologies include a unique chemical reaction which can be used to generate steam at temperatures between 100ºC and 600ºC+, instantaneously, starting from room temperature, using a cheap liquid fuel alongside the Company’s patented catalysts. Such unprecedented Instant Steam could have important applications in a broad range of markets, from cleaning and disinfecting, to green energy in the form of motive power or electricity.
Oxford Catalysts’ strategy is to license its technologies for commercial application by entering into co-development partnerships with leading manufacturers, producers and suppliers in the petroleum, alternative fuels and catalysis markets.
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC is listed on London’s AIM market (LSE: OCG). The Group has some 90 employees with facilities near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK and Columbus, Ohio, USA.
About Potter Drilling, Inc.
Founded in 2004, Potter Drilling’s mission is to commercialise innovative drilling technology designed to lower the cost of developing Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS). The company is based in Redwood City, California.
Potter Drilling recently received a $4 million investment from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google Inc, as part of Google's Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative. More information about Potter Drilling's technology and EGS is available from:
