Our process allows us to successfully recover hydrocarbons from the soil, which may then be used to produce asphaltic cement and/or other petroleum-based products. We presently have three patent applications pending related to our Remediation Processing Centers (“RPC’s”) and two issued patents related to our other remediation technologies.
Our RPCs each have the potential to clean a minimum of 20 tons of contaminated material per hour, depending on the nature of the material being processed. The amount of extracted hydrocarbon recovered depends on the extent to which the material is contaminated. For example, we estimate that for every 500 tons of contaminated material recovered per day that contains at least 10% oil, we will recover approximately 250 barrels of extracted hydrocarbons.
We have designed our RPCs to provide an environmentally friendly solution to the remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil, as they do not utilize water, nor do they release harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Our RPCs operate by loading contaminated soil onto a feeder and conveyor system that effectively delivers the material into a fully contained, closed-loop system. Physical separation of the hydrocarbons from the contaminated soil does not utilize water or steam and is instead accomplished using a proprietary extraction fluid to dissolve the hydrocarbon components. Upon completion of the process, the recovered hydrocarbons are sold and clean soil is returned to the environment.
We believe our RPCs are significantly more advanced than other oil remediation technologies or offerings presently available on the market. Our RPCs have successfully cleaned contaminated soil containing greater than 7% hydrocarbon content, while, to our knowledge, our competitors are limited to projects containing less than 5% hydrocarbon contamination.
Our current focus is on the clean-up of greater than 7% hydrocarbon contaminated soil located in Kuwait as a result of the Iraqi invasion and naturally occurring oil sands deposits in Utah.