Power-Recovery Machines Generate Deal in Japan

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The United States, which is producing more oil within its borders, faces less pressure to conserve than countries such as Japan that have few natural resources.

That has increased demand for energy-efficient systems in those markets and could be a boon for Access Energy, a Cerritos manufacturer of technology that uses energy normally lost in the industrial process to generate power.

The company, which has 200 employees at its seven-acre campus, makes machines that recover heat and pressure from industrial applications and converts that energy into electricity.

Access last month announced that it had reached a distribution deal with Daiichi Jitsugyo of Tokyo to sell its machines, called Thermapower Organic Rankine Cycle modules, in Japan.

The machines will be used at facilities that incinerate waste, collecting heat from gas produced in the process and using it to spin a generator, which creates electricity. That power can then be used on site or sold to a local utility.

Herman Artinian, Access vice president of business development, said the deal shows there is substantial demand for the machines.

“Japan is well-known as a very efficient, process-oriented country,” he said. “The fact that they have so much waste gives you a sense of how much waste there is everywhere else. If we succeed there, we’re golden.”

The company, part of Cerritos’ Calnetix Technologies LLC, launched the modules in 2010. Daiichi Jitsugyo installed a module at a private incineration facility in Yamanashi, Japan, late last year.

Japan is especially eager to look for alternative energy sources. The country shut down nearly all of its nuclear power infrastructure after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crisis at its Fukushima plant.

Artinian said the company will be announcing more distribution deals in the next two years.

“There are many countries that don’t have natural energy resources,” he said. “These countries are saying they can look internally to see if they can increase efficiency of their processes, which we’ve said for a long time.”

The United States, which has significant resources and is increasing oil production, is a tougher market for Access. Artinian said the company is looking for ways to develop niche applications for business owners here.


Space Case

In an effort to improve operations, manufacturers and energy companies are using tracking technology originally developed for space exploration.

Mojix Inc., a West L.A. company that makes radio systems for tracing and monitoring firms’ supply chains and manufacturing operations, announced last month that U.K. oil and gas giant BP PLC will use its technology during construction of its Clair Ridge oil platform in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland.

Mojix Chief Executive Ramin Sadr said the system, which will allow BP to track and trace components of the rig as it is being built, will improve efficiency and safety during construction.

“It’s making sure the right thing is in the right place at the right time with the right quality,” he said. “We intend to revolutionize the oil and gas industry.”

Mojix competed with 15 other companies for the BP project and was selected last year, but didn’t announce the deal until it was clear the oil company liked the technology.

Sadr in the 1980s led development of communications and data systems used in NASA space projects including the Galileo mission to Jupiter. He formed Mojix in 2004, realizing the system could be reformulated for manufacturing, energy and other industries.

He said the increasing need to improve efficiency, mitigate risk and comply with safety regulations is driving demand.

Other Mojix customers include Mercedes-Benz producer Daimler AG in Germany. It has 50 employees, with about 40 in Los Angeles and the rest in Europe.

For the Clair Ridge project, BP will build and install two bridge-linked platforms in 2015 and production will begin the following year. BP will spend an estimated $7 billion on the project. The rig should produce 120,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak.


Raytheon Move

The announcement that defense giant Raytheon Co. will move one of its units from El Segundo is another example of the decline of the aerospace industry in Los Angeles County.

The Waltham, Mass., company announced May 2 it planned to move its Space and Airborne Systems business – which builds radar and other sensors for planes, spacecraft and ships – to McKinney, Texas.

The decision is part of the company’s larger consolidation effort announced earlier this year. Raytheon’s sprawling El Segundo location will reportedly lose about 170 employees. The company currently has 6,000 to 7,000 workers in El Segundo and an additional 3,000 to 4,000 elsewhere in California.

“Our new structure will help us enhance productivity, agility and affordability in a challenging defense and aerospace market environment,” said William Swanson, Raytheon’s chief executive, in the statement announcing the consolidation in March.

Aerospace companies have been cutting costs in lockstep with defense budget reductions with the wind-down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sequestration.

Northrop Grumman Corp. in March said it would close its Dominguez Hills facility as part of a larger cost-cutting effort, affecting nearly 800 workers.

Boeing Co. cut 900 jobs at its C-17 plant in Long Beach in 2011. Northrop in 2010 eliminated 500 jobs, mostly at its El Segundo and Redondo Beach facilities.

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