Interviews – Semifinalists American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize
American-made Geothermal Prize (source: DOE/ NREL)
Alexander Richter
3 Aug 2021
Check out the video interviews with representatives of the semifinalists in the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize.
The semifinalist teams of the U.S. Department of Energy’s American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize have been working diligently over the past several months preparing their technologies for the next milestone: creating a prototype ahead of Make! Demo Day. Since learning of their status as Set! Contest semifinalists in March 2021, these nine teams have been fabricating prototypes of their additive manufacturing designs, identifying Geo! partner(s), and using continual customer and stakeholder feedback to substantially advance their prototype.
Now, these innovators are sharing a glimpse at their technologies.
The prize team invites friends, family, peers, industry experts, and anyone interested in geothermal and additive manufacturing to learn more about each innovation by watching the videos below.
| Technology: | A Novel Generator for Underground Environments |
|---|---|
| Team: | AC |
| Location: | Cambridge, MA |
| Contact: | Edem Tsikata of AC |
| Project Summary: | This team is providing detailed design specifications for a new kind of downhole electrical generator. |
| Pitch Video: | Team AC declined a video interview |
| Technology: | Additive Manufactured Backup-Rings for Packers |
|---|---|
| Team: | Baker Hughes |
| Location: | Houston, TX |
| Contact: | Robert Krumm of Baker Hughes |
| Project Summary: | This team is developing a high-temperature packer that’s only possible using additive manufactured parts enabling production tubing isolation in wells up to 450°F. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | A new Isolation Packer System for Geothermal Wells |
|---|---|
| Team: | Downhole Emerging Technologies |
| Location: | Houston, TX |
| Contact: | Ken Havlinek of Downhole Emerging Technologies |
| Project Summary: | This team is using additive manufacturing to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of a new innovative all-metal isolation packer for geothermal wells. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Additively Manufactured Mechanical Metamaterials |
|---|---|
| Team: | Multiscale Systems |
| Location: | Worcester, MA |
| Contact: | Jesse Silverberg of Multiscale Systems |
| Project Summary: | This team is using additively manufactured mechanical metamaterials as a technology for improving EGS equipment survivability in the downhole environment. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Using AM to rapidly deploy new sensors into EGS |
|---|---|
| Team: | Ozark Integrated Circuits |
| Location: | Fayetteville, AR |
| Contact: | Jim Holmes of Ozark Integrated Circuits |
| Project Summary: | This team is bringing processing power to the edge in extreme environments such as EGS via additive manufacturing of HT electronics circuits. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Optimization of Gas Sparger Head for Airlift |
|---|---|
| Team: | PLUGS |
| Location: | Morgantown, WV |
| Contact: | Terence Musho of PLUGS |
| Project Summary: | This team is interested in optimizing, designing, and printing a sparger head for geothermal airlift system. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Project Hot Hammer |
|---|---|
| Team: | The Bit Guys |
| Location: | Morgantown, WV |
| Contact: | Jay Hewitt of The Bit Guys |
| Project Summary: | This team is designing a revolutionary air hammer bit that will stay intact up to 600°C drastically speeding up the drilling process. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Ultra-High Temperature Logging Tool Set Submission |
|---|---|
| Team: | Ultra-High Temperature Logging Tool |
| Location: | Houston, TX |
| Contact: | Jeffrey Johnston of Ultra-High Temperature Logging Tool |
| Project Summary: | This team is developing a prototype tool taking advantage of AM to reduce thermal conductivity between geothermal reservoir and sensitive electronics module. |
| Pitch Video: |
| Technology: | Novel Metal Annular Barrier for Geothermal Systems |
|---|---|
| Team: | Welltec |
| Location: | Katy, TX |
| Contact: | Gbenga Onadeko of Welltec |
| Project Summary: | This team is using additive manufacturing to enable the enhancement of the metal annular barrier for effective zonal isolation in geothermal wells. |
| Pitch Video: |
Source: American Made Challenges
