MPM Secures NASA Sponsored NEOGEN Technology For SKYGAS Heat Recovery Applications

MPM Technologies, Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Nupower, Inc. has entered into an exclusive agreement with Unitel Technologies, Inc. (UTI) to license the NEOGEN technology for all heat recovery applications downstream of its SKYGAS electrokinetic reactor. MPM’s exclusive arrangement also covers plasma arc gasification systems.

NEOGEN is an energy harvesting system that enables the cost-effective conversion of low-grade waste heat into “extra” electric power. NEOGEN uses a tandem binary recuperated cycle that lets you capture and utilize the heat that would otherwise be lost through the stack. “We estimate that NEOGEN will create a net increase of approximately 20 percent in the total electric power generated by a typical SKYGAS waste-to-energy plant,” says Michael Luciano, MPM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The NEOGEN technology was developed under the auspices of a NASA grant to UTI with a goal to configure a waste heat recovery model that would achieve a nominal energy gain of 20 percent over the recuperated binary Rankine cycle. The ensuing project work was jointly conducted by UTI engineers, researchers from NASA’s Glen Research Center and scientists from Creare, Inc. The results of this cooperative effort were successful, and the three parties were able to translate the underlying concept of a flexible working solution into a demonstration-ready design.

SKYGAS is a unique electrokinetic process that converts solid and semisolid carbonaceous wastes into a clean-burning synthesis gas that can be burned to raise steam and make electric power. SKYGAS overcomes the shortcomings generally associated with incineration and thermal and plasma arc gasification methods.

MPM is a holding company with three subsidiaries: Nupower, which is engaged in the development and commercialization of SKYGAS, AirPol, Inc. which builds, installs and services industrial air pollution control systems, and MPM Mining Inc., an exploration and development company with gold and silver mining properties in Montana.

UTI is the successor to Xytel Technologies Partnership (XTP), the chemical and process innovations group that was jointly owned by the Randhava brothers and Itochu Corporation. In 1996, the Randhavas purchased Itochu’s equity interest in XTP and continued its operations under the Unitel name. Twelve years later, Unitel is now internationally recognized as the go-to organization for first-of-its-kind green energy and environmental projects.