Recognizing the potential applications of its core technology for the oil and gas industry, SIGNa Chemistry, a New York City-based company, has a new presence in York.
SIGNa has established its Oil and Gas Recovery unit at the J.D. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship West Lab Facility at York College in order to pursue expanded uses of its technology at oil and gas fields.
Michael Lefenfeld founded SIGNa in 2005; he developed a technology to transform reactive alkali metals into safe, non-combustible, sand-like powders that can be used in a variety of chemical processing operations.
According to Lefenfeld, the company is now focused on the oil and gas industries. A small team began work in York in August, exploring how the company’s core product, known as ActiveSand, can be used to enhance, speed and green hydraulic fracturing and oil recovery. Using ActiveSand, producers can potentially recover up to 50 percent of residual oil and accelerate the start of enhanced production by as much as 20 percent, all with minimal environmental impact. In shale gas formations, the technology also boosts productivity and addresses environmental concerns by reducing water needs and producing cleaner wastewater.
Lefenfeld says SIGNa expects to begin testing its new applications in Pennsylvania wells by the end of the year and that the J.D.Brown Center is just a starting point for operations in the Commonwealth. The company is already looking for expanded physical space in the region.
Source: Michael Lefenfeld, SIGNa
Writer: Elise Vider