AIKEN, S.C., July 21, 2003 -- Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) recently received notice that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued patent number US 6,534,754, for the Microwave Off-Gas Treatment System.
This patent covers a unique system for treatment of off-gas emissions for safe discharge to the atmosphere. It is a compact and portable microwave system designed to remediate hazardous emissions from a wide variety of thermal processes. It is scalable for both large volume commercial units as well as smaller-scale, batch operations.
Current methods for treating these off-gas streams include filtration systems, chemical cleansing, scrubbers, or chemical conversion to a solid material that is subsequently disposed of as solid waste. These methods often require specialized materials and handling, which add to the disposal and treatment expense.
The microwave off-gas treatment system has been successfully demonstrated for treatment of a variety of waste streams. In test runs, a gaseous waste stream was treated in the treatment chamber for 30 minutes. Contaminants including benzene; toluene; ethylbenzene; styrene; napthalene; m/p xylene; 1,3, 5 trimethylbenzene; and 1,2,4 trimethylbenzene were reduced two to three orders of magnitude, and in many cases to non-detectable levels.
Any operation involving other thermal treatment processes, such as, furnaces, ovens, and melters, could likely benefit from use of this patented technology.
WSRC is seeking companies interested in licensing the patent rights to this technology for manufacturing and distribution.
For more information on the Microwave Off-Gas Treatment System, contact Dale K. Haas, telephone (803) 725-4185 or (800) 228-4988, Fax: (803) 725-4988, e-mail: [email protected], or address: Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Building 773-41A #238, Aiken, SC 29808.
