TAMPA, Fla. (March 20) — Internal Hydro International Inc., a Tampa-based publicly traded alternative energy company, plans to build up to 20 waste tire/solid waste remediation plants in the U.S. and Europe using "catalytic-activated vacuum distillation" technology from a subsidiary of EarthFirst Technologies Inc.
IHI did not disclose a timeline for its plan nor the size of investment needed but claims each plant could generate up to $2.5 million in profit per year.
The plan begins with one prototype plant in the U.S., in Mobile, Ala., that it has offered to buy from World Environmental Solutions Company Inc., which developed the CAVD technology, for $2 million.
IHI claims the CAVD technology allows a plant to burn tires in a vacuum at a third of the typical pyrolysis temperature, preserving tire components and satisfying emissions regulations. The result is usable energy and a range of byproducts, including steel, carbon, oils similar to kerosene and diesel fuel, and an energy-dense gas.
The company said the technology evolved from EarthFirst´s work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and scientists from the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union.
A typical 20-pound passenger tire processed with CAVD technology can yield nine pounds of carbon, for the manufacture of polymers; one gallon of oils, which can be used as fuels or industrial process oils; two pounds of steel; and 30 cubic feet of combustible gases to generate electricity, IHI claims.
IHI´s primary focus is developing environmentally friendly, low- impact hydroelectric generation products. The firm claims its patented low-impact hydro device volume and pressure from water, air or gas such as city water mains, industrial pipelines and other available yet wasted flow sources, to create its electricity.