SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackPak™, Inc., a
private technology company developing innovative packaging
solutions for natural gas fuel sources, announced today that the
Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded
BlackPak a $4.6M cooperative
agreement for the development of its natural gas fuel tank
technology under ARPA-E's Methane Opportunities for Vehicular
Energy (MOVE) Program. The BlackPak effort leverages technology
developed and spun out from SRI International as part of a prior
award under the MOVE program.
BlackPak, together with its partners, ATMI, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATMI)
and SRI International, is developing adsorbed natural gas storage
systems for automotive and commercial applications with a target
system-level energy density greater than 6 MJ/L at 500 psi
pressure. Based on advances in engineered nano-porous materials,
the technology enables natural gas to be stored in containers that
come in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations. Compared to
today's conventional high-pressure compressed natural gas
cylinders, this will allow vehicle designers and equipment
manufacturers the ability to integrate natural gas systems that
conform to the available spaces in light duty vehicles while
maintaining maximum functional utility in the form of usable trunk
space.
The BlackPak system under development also targets a
significantly lower overall cost and can dramatically improve the
return on investment potential for light duty natural gas vehicles
and similar applications. Low-pressure storage also has the
potential to drastically reduce the upfront capital expenditure and
operating cost of such systems, as well as simplify the
requirements for tank filling appliances, further improving the
comparative economics of adsorbed natural gas systems relative to
compressed natural gas, gasoline, and diesel.
About BlackPak
BlackPak is a private technology
company based in San Francisco,
CA, that was co-founded by ATMI, InnerProduct Partners, and
SRI International. For more information, visit BlackPak's website:
www.blackpaktech.com
About ATMI
ATMI, Inc., a global technology company,
provides specialty materials, material processing and safe,
high-purity materials handling and delivery solutions designed to
increase process efficiencies for the microelectronics and other
industries. For more information about ATMI, please visit
http://www.atmi.com. For more information about ATMI BrightBlack
precision-engineered materials, please visit
http://www.atmi-brightblack.com.
About InnerProduct Partners
InnerProduct Partners is a
specialized fund manager supporting an underserved market for
early-stage U.S.-based technology companies in IT, Materials,
Energy, and Healthcare. InnerProduct Partners seeks to create value
for entrepreneurs and limited partners by investing in compelling
commercial opportunities that align with urgent needs of
non-dilutive capital sources. In addition, the InnerProduct
Partners team, which combines broad technical and industry
experience, actively deploys with entrepreneurs to accelerate
technology de-risking and the delivery of disruptive products to
market. This disciplined human and financial capital approach is
expected to benefit both founder-entrepreneurs and investors,
enabling the rapid commercialization of new technologies and
superior financial returns. For more information, please visit
www.innerproductpartners.com.
About SRI
SRI International is a nonprofit research
and innovation center headquartered in Silicon Valley. Government
and business clients worldwide come to SRI for pioneering solutions
in biomedical sciences and health, chemistry and materials,
computing, education, economic development, energy, security and
defense, robotics, sensing, and more. We provide research,
laboratory and advisory services, technology development and
licenses, deployable systems, products, and venture opportunities.
Our innovations have created new industries and marketplace value,
and lasting benefits to society. Visit SRI's website and Timeline
of Innovation to learn more.
About ARPA-E
Please visit http://arpa-e.energy.gov/
to learn more about ARPA-E and the MOVE program.
SOURCE BlackPak Inc.