مریم رشتچی

Natural gases hydrates are crystalline solids composed of water and gas that are categorized in the clathrate family. Although gas hydrates have been discovered since 200 ago gas hydrate resources have only been discovered under see beds and frozen ocean zones only some 50 years ago. Since the 1979's extensive work has been focused on regasification of gas hydrates, due to the large resources of these materials as well as the limitations and costs of the others. Governmental initiatives have hence been developed in countries of high demand and limited resources. On the other hand, blocking of gas pipelines due to the formation of gas hydrates has embarked on an independent series of research experiments to inhibit the formation of the compounds, leading to the current status in which different companies perform research on diverse aspects of this field.The present work focuses on the technology trends and policy makings in this area through the search, retrieval and analysis of the patents and applications filed in the different fields (including hydrate formation, production, dissociation, degasification etc.). The results contain priceless information of the technology trends and research orientations in the field and can be of benefit to R&D planners, as well as researchers.The aim of this study is to investigate the hydrate technology trend by mining the patent information in the field of gas hydrates including "Inhibition of hydrate formation, hydrate production, hydrate dissociation and regasification, gas hydrate resources exploitation, and some hydrates applications" and analysis thereof in strategic and competitive levels. The analysis of the acquired information is of great value to determine the research and technology orientation in the field and to recognize the inventors active in the field.

The presence of sulfur components in natural gas, crude oil and products, causes problems such as corrosion, catalyst poisoning in factories where the gaseous and liquid products are delivered, environmental problems and heat value decrease which affects inversely on economic value of such resources. In the light of the increasing number of researches in the field of sulfur component emissions associated with oil and gas development, the present study is an effort aiming at mining all the patent information in the field of sulfur removal from hydrocarbon fluids and analyzing them at the strategic level. The results show that absorption and bio-desulfurization relating for gas sweetening and the processes based on extraction and adsorption in the field of sulfur removal from liquid hydrocarbon feed are the most attractive and innovative processes with more increasing patent publication rates. The analysis of the acquired information is of great value and benefit in determining the research and technology orientation and to the active inventors in the field.

Given the paradigm shift from “Closed Innovation” to “Open Innovation”, there seems to be a need for a systematic mechanism for exploring and evaluating alternative external technologies, as well as the business models that may be appropriate for capturing value from such technologies. Although Traditional Technology Roadmapping (TTRM) used to play an important role in this regard, analyzing its utility in the context of Open Innovation reveals some shortcomings that need to be addressed in order to make the most of the Technology Roadmapping (TRM) concept. This paper elaborates on these limitations and suggests a modified approach, Open Innovation Roadmapping (OIRM), as an effective technological innovation management and planning tool in this new paradigm. The results of the application of the proposed approach in the case of the membrane technology roadmapping at the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) are also presented here. Further practical guidelines are also raised by the authors to give a more practical vision on the approach.