Enpar gets U.S. patent for waste-water treatment
2006-10-25 09:57 ET - News Release
Dr. Gene Shelp reports
ENPAR AWARDED UNITED STATES PATENT FOR ITS AMMONIA TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY
Enpar Technologies Inc. has received the latest in a series of anticipated patents for its AmmEL system. This United States patent is expected to be followed closely by a successful patent application in Canada.
Enpar's management believes that its AmmEL system is currently the best-known technology for the treatment of ammonia in municipal and industrial waste waters. Ammonia is a recognized toxin that is directly converted to environmentally friendly nitrogen gas by the AmmEL system. Management believes that the AmmEL system has worldwide applications in markets that represent billions of dollars annually.
The majority of competing biological technologies in Canada convert ammonia to nitrate, a human carcinogen, which is then dumped into freshwater systems, creating a potential health risk.
The current patent is for improvements made to the company's U.S. and Canadian patents that were awarded on July 4, 2000, and December, 2005, respectively.
Applications of the technology
The improvements broaden the applications of the technology, which now include treatment of solutions resulting from dewatering of sludge or biosolids and containing extremely high levels of ammonia (500 to 1,500 parts per million), as well as tertiary treatment of solutions containing relatively low levels of ammonia (10 to 50 parts per million).
The AmmEL-HC system
The handling of sludge produced from municipal waste water treatment represents a major challenge for all levels of government. To develop a biosolid product that is free of environmental concerns, and can either be applied directly to the land or burned as an energy source, water must be removed from the sludge and the accompanying toxic levels of ammonia should be treated.
The AmmEL-HC system enables municipalities to achieve year-round compliance with government-mandated environmental standards and regulations.
The AmmEL-LC system
The alternative design, the AmmEL-LC system, is effective as a final treatment step before discharge to the environment of waters containing relatively low levels of ammonia that still exceed the recommended environmental guideline. This design can be directly applied to conventional waste water treatment facilities as well as lagoon-type waste water treatment facilities. Lagoon facilities are generally incapable of properly treating ammonia and subsequently release nitrate into receiving water bodies. The AmmEL-LC system has been successfully tested at the city of Guelph waste water treatment facility and at the Regional Municipality of Niagara's Garner Rd. biosolids handling site.
Management believes that the AmmEL-LC system has application to the approximately 1,000 lagoon facilities found in Canada alone. Similar numerous opportunities are known to exist globally. In northern regions, lagoons appear to be the system of choice, and the effects of nitrate pollution can be long lived. However, Enpar's AmmEL-LC system remains highly effective even under near-freezing conditions.
Enpar is currently in preliminary discussions with a leading international water treatment services company about a strategic alliance to exploit Enpar's AmmEL system. Shareholders will be kept informed of future developments on a timely basis.
