Business Description
We design and are developing technologies for the purpose of improving key
performance characteristics of combustion systems, including emission and operational
performance, energy efficiency and overall cost-effectiveness. Our patent-pending
Duplex™ and Electrodynamic Combustion Control™ (ECC™) platform
technologies enhance the performance of combustion systems in a broad range
of markets, including the refinery, petrochemical, chemical, power and commercial
boiler industries. Our Duplex technology uses a porous ceramic tile above a
standard burner to significantly reduce flame length and achieve very low emissions
without the need for external flue gas recirculation, selective catalytic reduction,
or excess air systems. Our ECC technology introduces a computer-controlled high
voltage electric field into a combustion volume in order to better control gas-phase
chemical reactions and improve system performance and cost-effectiveness.
While we have not yet commercialized our Duplex or ECC technologies and our
technologies have not been tested or verified by any independent third party,
based on the results of our testing, we believe that our proprietary technology
platforms may improve emissions control performance and operational performance
for many types of industrial and commercial combustion systems. As a result,
we also believe that our technologies may reduce costs associated with the construction
(including refurbishment and upgrade), operation and maintenance of these combustion
systems as compared to combustion systems that use no or alternative technology
to enhance combustion and control emissions.
Based on the results of our testing, we believe our technologies compare favorably
with current industry-standard air pollution control technologies, such as selective
catalytic reduction devices, low- and ultra-low NOx burners (which address nitrogen
oxides or NOx), excess air systems and other similar technologies. Such systems
are used in our current target market segments of petroleum refining and petrochemical
process heaters, package and utility boilers and large-scale once through steam
generators (OTSGs).
The combustion and emissions control markets are significant, both in the wide
array of industries in which the systems are used and in the amount of money
spent in installing and upgrading systems. The Energy Information Administration
of the U.S. Department of Energy determined in its 2014 Annual Energy Outlook
that the world’s industrial sector consumed 165 quadrillion British thermal
units (BTUs) of hydrocarbon fuels. These are used to provide heat for all manner
of industrial processes, including boilers, furnaces, kilns and turbines. In
order to maximize energy efficiency while keeping pace with regulatory guidelines
for air pollution emissions, operators of these systems are continually installing,
maintaining and upgrading a variety of costly process control, air pollution
control and monitoring systems. Although we believe that there are many potential
markets for our technologies, to date we have limited the introduction of our
technologies to market segments that include petroleum refining and petrochemical
process heaters, package boilers, and OTSGs.
We are pursuing development of our technologies to enable future sales. These
activities entail (i) field development projects in the case of our Duplex technology
where we have successfully demonstrated our proprietary technology operating
in our field testing with thermal output of up to 52 million BTU/hr, (ii) laboratory
research in the case of our ECC technology where we have demonstrated certain
attributes of our proprietary technology operating in our research facility
with thermal output of up to 2 million BTU/hr, and (iii) business development
and marketing activities with established entities that use steam generators,
process heaters, boilers, solid fuel burners, and other combustion systems as
well as original equipment manufacturers. We intend to continue to enter into
collaborative arrangements, such as those described below, which would enable
us to work closely with established companies in targeted industries to apply
solutions developed in our laboratory and field settings.
