Ramgen Company History

The predecessor Company was formed in 1992 by Shawn Lawlor to engage in the research, development, construction and testing of compressors and engines based upon the high efficiency and the simplicity of ramjet shock wave compression principles. Mr. Lawlor had been exposed to groundbreaking research on ramjet projectiles at the University of Washington, before being employed by Rocketdyne to work on flight ramjet engine designs. In forming Ramgen, Mr. Lawlor believed that harnessing the ramjet principles of compression in a stationary environment could be a breakthrough innovation with important commercial applications in industrial equipment markets.

Mr. Lawlor founded Ramgen to work full-time on the development of stationary ramjet technologies. Six months later, he filed his first patent which began a five-year effort to design the first proof-of-concept test rig. Douglas Jewett became an investor and a member of the Board in early 1998 and soon thereafter assumed the role of President and CEO, providing general management and overseeing capital formation and business development activities.

The stationary application of the ramjet technology was successfully demonstrated for the first time in early 1999 at a test site in Tacoma, Washington. The proof-of-concept test “rig” was in fact, an integrated, pre-prototype Ramgen 10MW Engine designed for electric power generation.

DOE/NETL

The design and test results of the 10MW engine attracted considerable attention from the DOE/NETL, which then sent scientific teams to assess the technology and the test results. The scientists’ consistently positive assessments have since led the DOE/NETL to become a critical partner for Ramgen, both in terms of technical assistance and as a source of funding.

This pre-prototype Ramgen Engine operated through early 2001, by which time the Company had secured enough data to support the further development of its technology. The collapse of the private and public new energy sector equity markets in the summer and fall of 2001 effectively prevented the Company from securing the funding it required and in early 2002, Ramgen began re-evaluating its options for developing its technologies in light of the harsh realities of the financial markets.

This process was accelerated in April 2002 when the DOE/NETL sponsored a formal Design Review that included Company, DOE, NASA and DOD scientists. This Design Review team confirmed the scientific validity of the Ramgen technology and developed an approach in which essential components of the overall technology were to be systematically completed in staged development phases. The shock wave-based compressor technology and the advanced vortex combustion “AVC” technology were identified as the first two priorities.

It was agreed that the most logical first step was to concentrate on the compressor development. It was recognized that the advantages and value of Ramgen’s technology could be achieved with less investment capital, in a shorter time period, and with considerably less technical risk, by developing a compressor technology that could be operated as a stand-alone product or be inserted as a component in larger and more highly integrated gas turbine and compressor designs. This commercialization path would take full advantage of the basic efficiency improvements achieved through ramjet shock wave compression, without necessitating near-term development of the completely integrated, Ramgen Engine fully suitable for electric power generation.

The Company was awarded DOE/NETL support for development of air compression technology. The DOE/NETL also introduced the Company to the DOD for possible application of the compression technology into a Fuel Cell Hybrid Cycle. As with any energy producing cycle involving compression, a more efficient compressor makes for a more efficient overall cycle. In recognition of the efficiency potential for Fuel Cell Hybrids specifically and energy cycles in general, the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratories granted a multi-year award in conjunction with the University of Alaska for the Company to apply its core technology to a Fuel Cell Hybrid system.

The FutureGen project was supported by the DOE/NETL to develop a new generation coal-fired power plant with zero pollution emissions including CO2. Recognizing that Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CC&S) would be critical to achieving that goal, and that CC&S requires efficient CO2 compression, the NETL published a solicitation for an advanced innovative CO2 compressor for CC&S in 2005.

Through a competitive bid process, the DOE/NETL recognized the unique potential of the Ramgen compression technology to reduce the capital and operating costs of the full scale deployment of CC&S systems, thus their combined effect on the cost of electricity. As a result, the Company was awarded an $11 million four year contract for development of CO2 compressor technology.

Support from Congressional Delegation

The process of developing this innovative technology was made possible by knowledgeable members of the states congressional delegation and their staffs taking the time to study the implications this research and development has for US energy security and for addressing Climate Change. Their conclusions that it can perform a vital role in meeting national goals has resulted in support essential to bringing it so close to completion of its development phase.

DARPA

The Company was also awarded two seedling contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Program Authorization, better known as DARPA, for a concept study of a new, compact and high efficiency gas turbine engine for military vehicles and systems.

Fundraising Initiatives

Ramgen initiated a series of fundraising activities in 2006 and 2007 designed to raise private funds to support these ongoing development activities and provide the matching funds required by its DOE commitments. Through 2007 Ramgen raised over $20 million in private investment.

On November 10, 2008, Dresser-Rand Group Inc. announced its investment in Ramgen and its intent to support Ramgen’s ongoing development work. In total, Dresser-Rand expects to pay Ramgen up to an estimated $49 million to help satisfy Ramgen’s requirement with the DOE’s National Energy Technology Lab to obtain private matching funds for the anticipated development and demonstration of a 10MW CO2 compressor by 2011.

Dresser-Rand

Dresser-Rand is among the largest suppliers of rotating equipment solutions to the worldwide oil, gas, petrochemical, and process industries. It has 60 years of experience compressing CO2 to super-critical state in support of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in the global oil and gas fields. It has the largest installed base of CO2 compressors used in EOR, worldwide.

Dresser-Rand operates manufacturing facilities in upstate New York and maintains a network of service centers covering more than 140 countries. Upon completion of technology development, Dresser-Rand has the capability to apply this advanced CO2 compression on the scale required to contribute to reducing greenhouse gases.