Natural Gas Conversion to Chemicals

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Recent developments show a large increase in Natural Gas (NG)  availability in the US. This leads to the potential for processes to  convert NG to chemicals that are currently derived from crude oil such  as olefins and aromatics. The Seeker is looking for novel ideas for  methods to convert Natural Gas to a major chemical or chemical feedstock beyond those processes known today.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.
Challenge 9933155 Deadline: October 28, 2012 Reward: $15,000

Locatable Proppant - Detection Underground

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Proppant is a granular material, typically natural sand or ceramic  beads, that is injected into a well during hydraulic fracturing.  The  purpose of the proppant is to 'prop open' the cracks or fractures  created in the rock during the hydraulic fracturing process, thereby  allowing the target oil or gas molecules to flow from the rock formation matrix into the created fracture pathways, into the wellbore, and hence to the surface. To reach the subsurface, the proppant is initially  mixed with a carrier fluid, typically water, and then pumped down the  wellbore into the formation at high pressure.  The Seeker desires to  "locate" the proppant material at least once after it is injected into  the fractures. A system is also needed to produce and detect a signal  representative of the proppant distribution.

This is a two-phase or multi-step Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed  award for more than one submitted solution. There is also potential for  future collaboration or participation in a technology development  project with the Seeker. Challenge 9933142 Deadline: November 02, 2012 Reward: $40,000