After a new round of funding, Rhode Island’s Clarke Valve is ready to scale its Dilating Disk™ Valve technology, a climate-friendly alternative to traditional industrial valves. According to CEO Kyle Daniels, his new technology helps stop methane leaks in oil and gas infrastructure and can radically reduce the release of so-called “fugitive emissions” into the atmosphere. In August, Clarke Valve announced a $5 million Series D funding round led by Flowserve Corporation, with additional funding from OGCI Climate Investments, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and New World Angels.
The new funding comes as large multinational energy companies are trying to reduce methane leaks as part of their climate goals. According to the International Energy Agency, fossil fuel operations generate nearly one-third of all methane emissions from human activity. Daniels said the Dilating Disk™ Valve eliminates all three sources of emissions that come from valves, including fugitive emissions, venting emissions and steady state emissions.
“The reason why we can accomplish this is because we were able to make our control valve electrically powered rather than mechanically powered. By going electric, you reduce your emissions to zero, just like a car,” he explained. “Additionally, if you eliminate the fugitive emissions from the valve itself, then your total emissions go to zero. As we have observed in the past two years, we have installed valves in the field that have measured zero fugitive emissions.”
Daniels said there’s a combination of forces and factors happening in the regulatory and government funding sectors. Recently the Methane Emissions Reduction Program was created via the federal Inflation Reduction Act to provide oil and gas companies with rewards and incentives, and to penalize excess methane waste with a set fee.
“In the coming year, we are going to be integrating our technology into broader and existing valve industry infrastructure with either one or multiple partners,” Daniels said. “What we would like for Clarke Valve in the near future is to see our technology scale up through that global infrastructure and begin to report significant measurable results of reducing emissions. Now that we have proven the technology in the oil and gas industry and their operations, the next step is to scale up manufacturing and develop a global footprint for the product”
Founded in 2011, Clarke Valve is privately held and, according to Daniels, began with the one product in mind. All of the Dilating Disk™ Valves are manufactured at Clarke Valve corporate headquarters in North Kingstown.
