Energy Recovery signs VorTeq exclusivity deal with Schlumberger

Energy Recovery (ER), a Californian pressure energy technology provider for industrial fluid flows, has entered into a 15-year deal with Schlumberger Technology Corp, providing exclusive rights to ER’s VorTeq hydraulic pumping system.

The VorTeq system is the first hydraulic fracturing manifold (‘missile’) built to isolate hydraulic fracturing pumps from abrasive proppants that cause pump failure, and it replaces the missiles traditionally used in hydraulic fracturing.

Under the terms of the agreement, Schlumberger will pay a $75 million (€68 million) exclusivity fee immediately, accompanied by two separate $25 million milestone payments (for a total of $50 million) subject to ER satisfying certain key performance indicators expected to occur in 2016.

At the heart of the VorTeq system is ER’s Pressure Exchanger technology, which works by capturing and recycling otherwise wasted pressure energy in fluid flows by a clean liquid-to-liquid energy exchange between high pressure and low pressure fluids.

With a single moving part made of tungsten carbide, one of the most abrasion resistant materials, the system has been engineered to withstand high pressures and harsh conditions, and it transfers up to 95% of the hydraulic energy from one fluid to the next.