VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emergent Waste Solutions Inc. (“EWS” or “the Company”), is pleased to announce that it has commissioned a study that will determine the viability of producing Highly Conductive Carbon Black (HCCB) by further refining the biochar produced by its ATS Plants.
“The term “carbon black” refers to a group of industrial products that consist of elemental carbon in the form of near spherical particles of colloidal size, coalesced into particle aggregates and agglomerates, and are obtained by the partial combustion or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. It is widely used as a filler in elastomers, plastics and paints to modify the mechanical, electrical and the optical properties of the materials in which they are dispersed and consequently determine their applications in a given market segment. Carbon black when compounded with plastics imparts unique properties such as UV protection, electrical conductance, range of darkness (jetness), opacity and reinforcement." 1
Expanding on that definition, the Swiss Science publisher, Springer, explains the significance of the conductive properties of HCCB, “Carbon black is incorporated into polymers for permanent electrostatic discharge protection, explosion prevention, and polymer applications that require electrical volume resistivities between 1 and 106 Ω cm. Typically, the so-called conductive carbon black is used since grades that belong to this specialty carbon black family impart electrical conductivity to polymers at lower critical volume fractions than conventional carbon black. Hence, conductive carbon black materials influence to a lower degree the mechanical properties of the resulting conducting polymer compound.” 2
This EWS study follows up on the findings of Dr. Amir Dehkhoda, who conducted a study in 2017 at the University of British Columbia that was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Dr. Dehkhoda included the following in his conclusions:
“The presented results in this report confirm the potential of EWS biochar as a valuable activated material for capacitive double layer applications. The prepared sample showed considerable capacitive behaviour and total capacitance values comparable, or superior to, other carbon-based material with much complicated and costly preparation steps reported for electrochemically assisted adsorption applications.
"The obtained total capacitance values are comparable and in most cases higher than those reported for the active material for capacitive double layer applications.”
Initial research shows that North American market prices for Highly Conductive Carbon Black range from $68,500 to $141,250 per 100 kilograms, depending on quality and particle size. Dr. Dehkhoda estimates the cost for EWS to produce 100 kg of HCCB from Emergent Biochar is $27,500, potentially increasing profitabiliy and revenue from its existing plant.
The study will be undertaken by Erik Lehmann, a consultant in Ohio. He will collaborate with Dr. Dehkhoda to confirm the capital outlay and operational costs associated with the production of HCCB. The study will identify potential buyers for Emergent HCCB and specifically the characteristics buyers require in an HBBC product. Erik will also confirm HCCB market prices and ascertain specifically who EWS needs to talk to concerning sales opportunities.
Mr. Lehmann will be remunerated through a combination of consulting fees and stock options. It is expected that he will present his findings to EWS before the end of June.
About Emergent Waste Solutions Inc.
EWS is a BC company with exclusive Canadian rights to deploy the world leading Advanced Thermolysis System (“ATS”) technology. The ATS is an innovative, secure, efficient, and proven method for the converting of waste materials such as MSW, plastics, biomass and livestock waste into marketable products, such as activated carbon, carbon black, biochar, syngas, and bio-oil.
EWS has commissioned and commercially tested an ATS500 plant in Canada that is located in the Hope BC area in partnership with the Yale First Nation.
Please click this link to see an expanded version of this news release with pictures:
Full News Release on Website
You may click here to see the company website for more information about our technology and products:
http://www.ewscanada.com
For further information contact:
EWS: Kevin Hull, CEO
khull@ewscanada.com
(604)741-1956
1 Carbon Black edited by Jean-Baptiste Donnet, Roop Chand Bansal, Meng-Jiao Wang. ISBN 0-8247-8975-X
2 Spahr M.E., Gilardi R., Bonacchi D. (2017) Carbon Black for Electrically Conductive Polymer Applications. In: Rothon R. (eds) Fillers for Polymer Applications. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham