Oiling geothermal: ViaLogy, Enel deal moves hydrocarbon technology into GT arena

In California, ViaLogy plc confirmed that it signed a contract with the North American unit of Enel Green Power to identify geothermal drilling locations in Nevada. John Mai, deputy to ViaLogy’s COO, confirmed that a deal was in place and that the company’s president, Robert Dean and other officials were in the UK finalizing the announcement.

To date, the company has used its technology – QuantumRD – for oil and gas exploration, and the deal with Enel will move ViaLogy into the renewable energy business. QuantumRD is a subset of Quantum Resonance Interferometry, which also has application in detecting buried pipelines and other buried objects. Mai could not say precisely why the technology was applicable to geothermal, other than to say that it finds smaller structures that did not show up in typical seismic studies and works below 10,000 ft.

Quantum resonance interferometry uses innovative software algorithms for active signal processing. The technology enhances signal-to-noise-ratios by rapidly determining whether a signal is present in the noisy data and is said to be 10 to 100 times more effective at detecting signals in noisy environments.

QuantumRD is a derivative of the core weak signal detection technology and was launched to enhance the petroleum industry’s ability to accurately locate, characterize and size hydrocarbon deposits. The image shown was taken from a 2008 presentation at the company’s annual meeting and depicts the detection of micro faults estimated to be 40 ft. in length.

The implication is that the technology will likely have application in enhanced geothermal systems in testing reservoir creation. For now, the stated purpose of the deal is the identification of drilling sites. How QuantumRD will do this will have to wait for a follow up.

ViaLogy was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories operated by the California Institute of Technology. It was merged with one of its major shareholders, Original Investments PLC, in October 2006 and ViaLogy is now publicly quoted company on the Alternative Investment Market, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange.