CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 12, 2002 -- U.S. Microbics, Inc. said today that its wholly-owned technology subsidiary, XyclonyX, has recently filed a patent application for the "Treatment of Contaminated Activated Charcoal" with the United States Patent Office.
The new invention relates to the treatment of carbon filtration systems and the use of micro-organisms for removal of contaminating hydrocarbons from such systems.
The patent application follows from the successful field trials using Bio-GAC™, a blend of hydrocarbon-eating bacteria, to regenerate used carbon from water treatment systems used in refineries and similar to carbon filtration systems used by consumers in their kitchen.
The Bio-GAC™ system was developed in response to industry demand for an economical alternative to offsite regeneration of spent carbon. Not only is offsite regeneration expensive, it is time consuming, ties up additional carbon inventory, and only 50 to 75% of the original carbon is returned from the regeneration process.
With the Bio-GAC™ system, costs for regeneration are typically 50% less than offsite regeneration and nearly 100% of the carbon can be regenerated to near virgin carbon standards.
Bio-GAC™ is a new breakthrough technology that can also be used to eliminate MTBE and other hydrocarbons from spent carbon used in groundwater cleanup at retail service station sites nationwide. The typical industries with potential beneficial use include:
-- Local Potable water treatment companies, boards and districts
-- Oil and Gas production, transportation, pipeline, bulking, refining, distribution, retail and gas stations
-- Commercial and industrial facilities with waste water production and/or permit requirements to treat facility discharges
-- Chemical and petrochemical facilities
-- Groundwater remediation sites
U.S. Microbics plans to capitalize on its patent and patent-pending technology by forming strategic alliances and joint ventures with well- established leaders in the carbon industry. Continued revenue streams are expected through licensing of the technology with both upfront fees and ongoing royalties.
