A new Gas Technology Institute (GTI) subsidiary, Innovative Discovery Technologies (IDT), LLC, has been formed in partnership with Surdam Consulting Inc., of Laramie, WY.

A new Gas Technology Institute (GTI) subsidiary, Innovative Discovery Technologies (IDT), LLC, has been formed in partnership with Surdam Consulting Inc., of Laramie, WY. IDT President Dr. Ronald C. Surdam said the company's newly developed exploration technologies support GTI's mission to reduce the risk and increase the profitability of developing over- and under-pressured gas zones for the natural gas industry. Basin center and deep basin setting are an emphasis for IDT.

In other news, GTI agreed to transfer and license know-how to Michigan-based Johnston Boiler Company (JBC) for the manufacture of a new, low-emission burner developed by GTI and its research partners. Under the agreement, JBC will have exclusive rights to build and supply the burner for use in certain sizes of existing and new firetube boilers.

The Forced Internal Recirculation burner reduces emission of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide from natural gas combustion. In field tests, the burner demonstrated NOx emissions as low as 6.7 volumetric parts per million (vppm) and CO levels as low as 3 vppm in a 20 million Btu/hr watertube boiler.

David Thornock, Director of Engineering at JBC, says, "With the continued interest in reducing NOx, CO and other precursor emissions of low-elevation ozone and smog, more non-attainment regions in the United States are evaluating requirements for ultra-low-NOx burners." He points to three major urban areas with serious ozone problems: Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta.