Technology Maturity Assessment – what it is and when to conduct

Introduction

In today’s world, technologies prevalent in the Oil & Gas sector are recognizing the necessity for a gradual shift towards other energy sectors. A technology qualification program can facilitate the transfer of these existing technologies into new areas.

A Technology Maturity Assessment is a tool that can be utilized when assessing whether existing technology, such as those used in the Oil & Gas industry, can be qualified for new applications like Carbon Capture, Hydrogen, or Ammonia production.

This assessment is divided into two main components:

1.     Technical Risk Categorization: This involves identifying and evaluating potential risks associated with the technology.

2.     Technology Readiness Level Assessment: This measures the maturity level of the technology, determining its readiness for implementation.

The assessment process involves participants’ engineering judgment and relevant information to determine the maturity of technologies for new applications.

Technical Risk Categorization (TRC)

The TRC will be assessed for systems, subsystems, and components using keywords from Table 1 below. The final TRC for the system is determined by the highest TRC among its subsystems (which, in turn, are influenced by the highest TRC of the component within the subsystem).

This assessment considers categories such as Reliability, Technology, Architecture/Configuration, Environment, and Organization. An exception occurs if Organization has the highest TRC; in that case, the highest TRC from any other category can be selected, provided Organization risks are manageable.

Change risk related to technology compatibility with new mediums is assessed using the Technology category.

Table 1: Key words for TRC assessment of equipment.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

The TRL is a qualitative measurement that ranges from 0 to 7. It indicates the stage of development for a technology. TRL assessments systematically evaluate the gaps between a technology’s current state and the requirements it must fulfil to progress to the next stage of development. For each system, subsystem, and component, TRL is assessed, and the overall system TRL is determined by the lowest TRL among its subsystems or components.

The TRLs represent the following stages:

1. Basic Research (basic R&D and paper concept)

2. Concept Development (development of concept such as a paper study)

3. Concept Demonstration (experimental proof of concept using physical model tests)

4. Prototype Development (prototype functional performance and reliability tested)

5. Product Validation (product validated and tested)

6. System Integration Testing (system interface tested)

7. System Installation and Commissioning (system installed and tested)

8. System Operation (system field proven)

TRL and TRC Combined

The TRL and TRC are combined in a matrix, as shown in Table 2 below, guiding users toward appropriate qualification activities for each development phase. Continual reassessment of technology maturity and risk informs the qualification plan throughout the program.

Table 2: Example TRL and TRC combined matrix

Conclusion

End users typically conduct technology maturity assessments during the early phases of development projects, particularly in feasibility studies and concept selection stages. Such assessments are generally preliminary, assisting in the identification of technologies, narrowing down concepts, and planning field development.

Furthermore, a comprehensive technology maturity assessment is necessary to pinpoint specific components or parts that require more qualification efforts. Suppliers usually carry out these in-depth assessments, with input from end users, leveraging their extensive knowledge of the technologies and products involved.

It is advisable to perform detailed TRL and TRC assessments at a granular level to identify individual components or parts with insufficient maturity for the intended application. This granularity ensures that qualification efforts are concentrated where most needed and that qualification activities are appropriately prioritized. For instance, in the qualification of assemblies, it may be necessary to qualify individual components separately before the entire assembly undergoes qualification. Qualifiers should decide the level of detail necessary for assessment and qualification based on the maturity of the component in question.

ORS Consulting supports technology and asset owners related to technology maturity and can provide guidance and assist in such aspects. Contact us to learn more on how we can support with your Technology Maturity Assessments.