Company uses rice hull ash to make activated carbon
CALGARY, ALBERTA, Jan. 21, 2002 -- AgriTec Systems Inc. today announced successful completion of its pilot plant manufacturing campaign and validation of product quality.
AgriTec has completed a pilot manufacturing campaign at facilities in Houston, Texas that produced test quantities of powdered activated carbon (PAC) and liquid sodium silicate (LSS) from rice hull ash.
The PAC was tested by two independent laboratories and the results compared favorably with the quality of the commercially available PAC products. Moreover, the PAC is of a quality suitable for the food processing industry, such as sweetener decolorization, beverage clarification and vegetable oil purification. These applications represent an avenue for AgriTec to realize greater value from its products as compared with other uses for PAC such as municipal water purification.
Samples of AgriTec's PAC are currently undergoing evaluation by several potential customers in the food and beverage industries. Following favorable feedback from these potential customers, AgriTec will move to the next phase of its commercialization effort and manufacture and market commercial quantities of PAC and LSS. In house analysis indicates that the LSS meets commercial specifications.
Douglas K. Stephens, AgriTec's CEO, commented "We are very pleased with the results of our pilot plant campaign, particularly in the quality of our activated carbon. Several prominent corporations in the food and beverage industries are evaluating our products and we anticipate receiving positive indications of interest from these important potential customers. The results of the pilot plant campaign place us on track to realize our goal of manufacturing and marketing commercial quantities of our products in 2002."
About AgriTec Systems, Inc.
AgriTec Systems, Inc. through its subsidiaries has developed and patented numerous proprietary technologies regarding the manufacture of silicate and carbon products from biomass (agricultural waste) including rice hull ash, the waste product from rice mill cogeneration businesses. AgriTec is pursuing commercialization of silicate and carbon products with Occidental Chemical Corporation, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, representing one avenue of its commercialization efforts.
