Seattle, WA – February 7, 2022 – Modumetal, a leading provider of nanolamination coating technologies, today announced it has raised $14 Million in Series A-2 funding led by Atlas Innovate and Rotor Capital. Modumetal also added two independent members to its Board of Directors: Tushar Porwal, an automotive industry leader and current Head of Manufacturing for BrightDrop, GM’s brand of electric commercial vehicles; and Robert Workman, an oil and gas industry executive and current CEO and Director of PSS Industrial Group.

Modumetal will use the funding to further accelerate commercialization of its oil and gas coating solutions, scale its operations, and expand its customer base in new key industries that include automotive and sustainable energy end markets. The company is rapidly expanding production capabilities as it has achieved specifications across most of the largest oil and gas      and engineering, procurement, and construction companies in the industry.

Modumetal is also developing licensing partnerships to grow into new markets and drive adoption of new products. The first nanolamination systems that Modumetal has commercialized provide corrosion resistance, durability, and increased strength that far exceed the capabilities of other commercially available coating systems today. There is a multibillion-dollar worldwide market for Modumetal’s technology.

“We are revolutionizing nanolaminated materials, making industrial products more corrosion resistant to withstand the harshest environments on the planet and supporting new industrial capabilities that would not be possible without Modumetal,” said Dennis Creech, Chief Executive Officer of Modumetal. “This latest funding will enable us to continue scaling our business to meet the increased demand from a growing number of industrial customers, including global companies in the energy and automotive sectors. I look forward to working with our investors and with Tushar and Robert to seize on the many opportunities in front of us.”

Porwal and Workman will join existing board members from Modumetal’s latest investor group including Alain Rothstein and Drew Gardner of Atlas Innovate and Rich Keller and Ed Lee of Rotor Capital.

“The Modumetal team has done an incredible job of developing this groundbreaking technology platform. Their first coating systems are fully commercialized and have proven corrosion performance in the field that dramatically exceeds anything else available on the market,” said Rothstein. “The company is well-positioned to support large-scale infrastructure projects and enable new capabilities in the next markets we’re going after. We’re excited to support Modumetal’s growth and look forward to working with Dennis, our growing board, and the team.”

Modumetal’s products are produced through a patented, sustainable manufacturing process that enables the production of nanolayered materials at an industrial scale and at a competitive price. Modumetal’s initial products include:

• NanoGalv® – A zinc-nickel nanolaminate technology that has been deployed for commercial use in corrosive service and high strength applications.
• NanoPlex® – A nickel-cobalt nanolaminate technology that has been deployed commercially to address corrosion and wear resistance in subsurface applications.

About Modumetal

Founded in 2007, Modumetal solves the limitations of current metals in corrosion and wear. Its patented manufacturing process brings nanolamination technology to industrial scale applications to produce metals that are superior in corrosion and wear performance but are comparable in cost to conventional metals and coatings. Modumetal is headquartered in Snohomish, Washington, and has a production facility in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit: https://www.modumetal.com/

Press Contact:

Joe LoBello

LoBello Communications

Joe@LoBelloCommunications.com

More “small thinking” with big paydays

In my February 2021 column, I introduced a nanotech product called NanoGalv^® offered by Modumetal (www.modumetal.com). NanoGalv^® is being clad onto fasteners to give them strong anti-corrosive properties.

This month, I want to cover a similar product offered by Modumetal—NanoPlex®. This product is very similar to NanoGalv^®, employing the same nano-laminated alloy structure, as shown in Fig. 2 in my February 2021 column. However, unlike the zinc-nickel alloy used in NanoGalv®, NanoPlex® is a cobalt-nickel nano-laminate alloy. NanoPlex^® enjoys superior corrosion resistance, as well as enhanced wear resistance in the harshest subsurface environments.

Before presenting field trials of several NanoPlex^® applications, I should mention that Modumetal’s line of nickel-based nano-laminated claddings has undergone extensive testing, including:

• Cladding adhesion in accordance with ASTM B571, “Standard Practice for Qualitative Adhesion Testing of Metallic Coatings”
• Hardness in accordance with ASTM E384, “Standard Test Method for Knoop and Vickers Hardness of Materials”
• Erosive (sand) wear resistance in accordance with ASTM G76, “Erosion Testing by Particle Impingement”
• Pin on disk lubricity in accordance with ASTM G99, “Standard Test Method for Wear Testing with a Pin-on-Disk Apparatus”
• Adhesive (block on ring) wear resistance in accordance with ASTM G77, “Standard Test Method for Ranking Resistance of Materials to Sliding Wear Using Block-on-Ring Wear Test”
• Porosity resistance (salt fog evaluation) in accordance with ASTM B117, “Standard Practice for Operating Salt Spray (Fog) Apparatus”
• Hydrochloric acid (15% (vol.)) resistance in accordance with ASTM G31/NACE TM0169, “Standard Guide for Laboratory Immersion Corrosion Testing of Metals”
• Autoclave corrosion testing in various H₂S & CO₂ environments, in accordance with guidelines provided by NACE TM0185.

Plunger lift pistons: As presented in SPE Paper 179923-MS, “Nano-laminated Alloys for Improved Return on Oilfield Assets,” NanoPlex^® was applied to plunger lift pistons used in artificial lift applications in the Texas and Oklahoma area. The operator’s experience with conventional plungers was a life of only two months, due to corrosion and erosion. “The plunger pistons in these wells typically run 20–30 trips per day, at an average travel speed of 700 ft/min. Failure of the plunger lift systems is typically a result of adhesive wear and loss of dimensionality of the plunger piston….”

In this field trial, 4 to 6 mils of NanoPlex^® were nano-laminated on a carbon-steel plunger piston and installed in three wells. NanoPlex^® cladding was chosen for its ability to resist wear but to be of low-enough hardness to prevent tubing wear. In one of the test wells, the uncladded piston had to be replaced in 62 days, due to loss of OD. The NanoPlex^® piston was removed from service after 135 days, with OD loss only on the leading and trailing edges of the piston. In summary, the NanoPlex^® plunger piston enjoyed twice the life of the unclad plunger piston.

Production tubing wear: In another field trial presented in the SPE paper, an operator was experiencing a high rate of downhole tubing failures, due to a combination of corrosion and sucker rod-induced wear. Trials were run on four wells. Pup joints (2⁷/₈-in., 6.5-ppf, J-55) were internally clad with 0.8 mm of NanoPlex^® and run into the wells at depths associated with high tubing failure rates. One of the test wells, which had an historical mean time to failure of 175 days, experienced a run life of over a year with NanoPlex^® pup joints.

Sucker rod coupling wear and corrosion: In 2016, a field trial was run on wells that produced high concentrations of H₂S and CO₂, and operators were experiencing rod-part failures, due to corrosion and erosion of the sucker rod couplings. NanoPlex^® sucker rod couplings were installed to improve corrosion resistance. Figure 1 shows photographs of both NanoPlex^®-clad and unclad sucker rod couplings after 10 months of service. Based on the condition of the clad couplings relative to the unclad couplings, several operators elected to replace all unclad sucker rod couplings with NanoPlex^®-clad couplings. Field operators experienced a notable decrease in sucker rod failures and well interventions.

Early field trials of NanoPlex^® artificial lift plungers and production tubing demonstrated increased asset life over conventional steel components, affording longer uptime for operators. This paved the way for commercial deployments of NanoPlex^® sucker rod couplings across a wide range of wells. Modumetal is now working with ChampionX to improve equipment reliability and lower field operating expenses.

Keep thinking small. I’ll have more nano-technologies to show you in coming columns.

About the Author: 

Willard C. (Bill) Capdevielle, P.E. has 45 years of upstream industry experience. He has held various technical and managerial positions and is retired from both Mobil Oil and Hess. Bill has spent equal portions of his career supporting producing operations, in upstream technology centers, and in capital project support.

For Modumetal inquiries

Ron Helmbeck

ron.helmbeck@modumetal.com

346-388-4399

Let me start this month’s column with a confession: I am a huge fan of nanotechnology! The official definition of nanotechnology is “science, engineering and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers” (see www.nano.gov). A nanometer is one-billionth (10^-9) of a meter, or 10Å—so, very small. A human hair has a diameter of 1,000,000 nanometers. I believe that nanotechnology can be a game-changer for the oil and gas industry. You might wonder how technology, so small, could benefit an industry whose equipment is usually so large.

In future columns, I will present several novel technologies that I’ve run across in my “technology wanderings.” I believe that these technologies have the potential for a disruptive economic impact on the production side of the oil and gas industry.

Meanwhile, let’s start with one of the most common issues we face—corrosion.

Nanolaminated coatings. One of the new nanotechnologies available to industry is nanolaminate metallic alloys, which can be applied to a variety of base materials. These metallic alloys, designed to improve asset life expectancy in highly corrosive surface and subsurface environments, are a product line called NanoGalv® and NanoPlex® nanolaminated coatings. These are offered by Modumetal, Inc. (www.modumetal.com) Theirs is a very elegant technology of electro-depositing (or “nanolaminating”) various alloys onto a substrate, using waveform modulation of the electric current.

Nanolaminated coatings refer to a class of materials that are comprised of nanometer-scale layers that vary in composition, phase, material microstructure, or a combination of thereof. Nanolaminated metallic coatings provide a thin, corrosion-resistant layer that protects the substrate material from the environment. Through an electrochemically controlled deposition process, precisely defined configurations of layered metal alloys are assembled onto a substrate material, such as carbon steel.

The deposition process can be controlled to produce nano-scaled layers with unique interfacial properties, resulting in enhanced corrosion resistance, elastic modulus, strength, hardness, adhesion, and fracture toughness……as a result of the atomic structure of the interfaces between the nano-layers. Figure 1 is a scanning-electron-microscope view of a cross-section of nanolaminations on a substrate.

So, how does this nanolamination phenomenon prevent corrosion? Figure 2 below demonstrates how nanolamination creates a more difficult path to the base material. The left side of the figure demonstrates the theoretical corrosion progression through a conventional homogeneous coating. Whether general or pitting in nature, the corrosion process progresses through the thickness of a homogenous coating system, leading to failure and reduced life expectancy.

The right side of the figure demonstrates how nanolaminations slow corrosion progression. Corrosion attacks the outermost layer first and then progresses to the layer below it. At that point, the corrosion is confronted by an interface that represents an additional barrier. Corrosion tends to be confined to the less noble layer. Each layer is protected cathodically, and corrosion proceeds laterally rather than through the nanolayered alloy. The key is to optimize corrosion resistance by controlling the galvanic interactions between layers.

After years of research, third-party testing, and fields trials in harsh environments, Modumetal concluded that a zinc-nickel nanolaminated system provided optimal corrosion protection for surface applications. The corrosion-resistant properties of this technology were compared to several conventional coating systems and documented in NACE paper 9920, “Zinc-nickel nanolaminate—Advanced coating for bolt corrosion control,” and presented at the 2017 Corrosion Conference & Expo.

In 2020, Modumetal started applying its NanoGalv^® coating system to fasteners (such as studs, nuts and bolts) for the oil and gas industry. The NanoGalv^® coating used on studs, nuts and bolts is approximately 8 microns thick. To confirm that the coating would not interfere with the tightening of fasteners, Modumetal tested the effect of NanoGalv^® on the nut torquing process and found that the K-factors were unaffected.

Field experience has shown that NanoGalv^® coatings are not damaged by standard installation tools or practices, such as impact wrenches.

So, when thinking about one of the biggest problems facing our facilities and equipment, think small.

About the Author: 

Willard C. (Bill) Capdevielle, P.E. has 45 years of upstream industry experience. He has held various technical and managerial positions and is retired from both Mobil Oil and Hess. Bill has spent equal portions of his career supporting producing operations, in upstream technology centers, and in capital project support.

For Modumetal inquiries

Ron Helmbeck

ron.helmbeck@modumetal.com

346-388-4399

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, November 16, 2020 – Modumetal and ChampionX Corp. (“ChampionX”) (NYSE: CHX) announced today an exclusive collaboration agreement to drive production-related technology developments through the combination of Modumetal’s advanced materials and processes and ChampionX’s extensive research and development capabilities.

Initially, the agreement will focus on the introduction of Norris Rod couplings coated with Modumetal nanolaminate technology. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies also will evaluate the technical and commercial feasibility of combining Modumetal technology with existing and new production equipment advancements—including artificial lift system components—to improve equipment reliability and lower oil and gas operators’ operating expenses.

“This agreement signals a significant step forward in commercializing our innovative class of nanolamination technology,” according to Dennis Creech, President and Chief Executive Officer of Modumetal Inc. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to partner with ChampionX to improve performance of production-related equipment. Our NanoPlex^® technology has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to resist a highly corrosive oil-well environment when applied to sucker rod couplings and we look forward to the opportunity to applying our technology to other components in the near future.”

“Our customers expect continuous reliability improvements in our artificial lift systems and material science is a key component to driving better equipment performance,” said Paul Mahoney, President, Production & Automation Technologies with ChampionX. “We’re excited about the step change in run life we can achieve by applying the nanolaminating process to critical system components. Rod couplings are just the beginning—we see tremendous potential for this technology across our production portfolio. We look forward to working with Modumetal’s team to drive even greater material science advancements.”

About Modumetal

Modumetal is a nanotechnology company based in Seattle, WA USA. Our technology forms layers of metallic alloys on metal substrates at a nanometer scale of thickness. By modulating electrical current with a proprietary chemistry to form an alloy structure, Modumetal can deliver unique and disruptive performance (10X) in corrosion protection, wear resistance, and durability in an environmentally friendly and sustainable process relative to conventional methods. Modumetal’s nanolayered alloys are affording an entirely new way of applying materials that will fundamentally change the performance of metals in the future.

About ChampionX

ChampionX (formerly known as Apergy Corporation) is a global leader in chemistry solutions and highly engineered equipment and technologies that help companies drill for and produce oil and gas safely and efficiently around the world. ChampionX’s products provide efficient functioning throughout the lifecycle of a well with a focus on the production phase of wells.

To learn more about ChampionX, visit www.championX.com

For Modumetal inquiries

Ron Helmbeck

ron.helmbeck@modumetal.com

346-388-4399

For ChampionX inquiries

Investor Contact: Byron Pope

byron.pope@championx.com

281-602-0094

Media Contact: John Breed

john.breed@championx.com

281-403-5751

HOUSTON – (Sept 17, 2020) – Modumetal, Inc. was recognized as one of the 10 Most Promising Companies at the 2020 Energy Tech Venture Forum hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship on Sept. 17, 2020. The companies were chosen by industry experts and investors.

Modumetal is a global nanotechnology company that developed, patented, and commercially launched advanced nanolamination materials for use in the Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Automotive, and Infrastructure markets to combat corrosion. Our technology has a proven 10x performance over conventional coatings such as hot dip galvanized and PTFE as a competitive price structure.

“We are very proud and humbled to have been named one of the Energy Tech Venture Forum’s 10 Most Promising Companies alongside other innovative companies. We are excited about our technology’s proven capability to combat corrosion and extend the life of assets tenfold. We look forward to working with our customers to solve their corrosion problems and license our technology to steel manufacturers”

Dennis Creech

President and CEO Modumetal

In the most competitive year for the forum, 40 energy tech companies were selected to present virtual quick pitches to qualified investors and industry representatives with over 1500 attendees from around the world registering to attend.

The 2020 event was the largest forum in the event’s 18-year history with more than 110 energy ventures participating—these companies have already raised more than $655 million in funding. Throughout the 3-day event, global leaders in energy technology venture capital investing and the leading global energy corporations participated in panels and 40 energy tech ventures pitched their companies. In total, more than 93 investment groups participated in the forum or took office hours. The event kicked off with a keynote from Maynard Holt, CEO of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. and closed with a special announcement on the launch of the new Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator.

A recording of the event is available on the Energy Tech Venture Forum website.

About the Company

Modumetal is a nanotechnology company based in Seattle, WA USA. Our technology forms layers of metallic alloys on metal substrates at a nanometer scale of thickness. By modulating electrical current with a proprietary chemistry to form an alloy structure, Modumetal can deliver unique and disruptive performance in corrosion protection, wear resistance, and durability in an environmentally friendly and sustainable process relative to conventional methods. Modumetal’s nanolayered alloys are affording an entirely new way of applying materials that will fundamentally change the performance of metals in the future.

Contacts

About the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s globally recognized entrepreneurship initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship education, technology commercialization, and the launch of technology companies. Since inception, over 2,675 startups have raised more than $21.5 billion in funding. More than 52,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem have attended over 200 programs hosted by the Rice Alliance.