PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (TSX:PYR, NASDAQ:PYR) revealed that it has been chosen by an advanced materials and chemicals trading house in the southern hemisphere to provide the company’s SPARC refrigerant waste destruction system.
The Montreal, Canada-based high-tech company that designs, manufactures, and commercializes advanced plasma processes and sustainable solutions which are geared to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG), didn’t disclose the client’s name for competitive reasons.
The Steam Plasma Arc Refrigerant Cracking System (SPARC) is the first of two systems that the yet-to-be-named company has indicated they may require. With engineering services, ancillary equipment options, and after-sales support, the ultimate project cost will be between US$2-to-$5 million per system depending on final decisions regarding full deliverables, according to PyroGenesis.
The client is a major supplier of chemicals and advanced materials throughout the southern hemisphere. With a half-century of experience in logistics, storage, and handling of materials across a range of applications and industries, the client – like PyroGenesis – maintains an ISO 9001 designation in support of its numerous global partnerships.
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The final agreement is expected to be signed before the end of the second quarter of 2023.
“The SPARC technology is one of the company’s first major technology achievements, which I believe speaks to our foresight, and our continued R&D, that a legacy system such as this can be used to address recent trends we are all seeing, evidenced by the increased demand for environmentally-friendly waste destruction systems – especially those geared to the destruction of dangerous or polluting chemicals and gases,” PyroGenesis CEO P. Peter Pascali said in a statement.
Pascali noted that jurisdictions worldwide are tightening regulations surrounding hazardous waste disposal, while trying to stimulate the safe destruction of hydrocarbons such as refrigerant chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), by providing carbon credits to offset costs.
“This announcement today underscores the fact that companies are increasingly recognizing the major role that PyroGenesis’ fossil-free waste destruction systems can play in this movement,” added Pascali. “Land-based systems such as our SPARC build upon the foundation of success we have established previously with our ship-board waste destruction systems for the US Navy’s Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers.”
As part of a greenfield project, where the client has purchased land and is building a new facility, it is anticipated that PyroGenesis will be designing and building the SPARC refrigerant waste destruction system while supervising contractors in the installation of the facility. The project has an approximate production-to-delivery timeline of 18 months from the final contract signing, said the company.
Interestingly, PyroGenesis’ patented SPARC system is based on the technology platform originally developed by the company for the US Navy and a US Air Force base. It uses inexpensive steam as the plasma-forming gas to generate a hydrolysis reaction that destroys refrigerants, leading directly to significantly reduced operating costs (versus more expensive gases) and cleaner operations with no incineration.
Powered by electricity, the use of the SPARC system reduces the carbon footprint, while eliminating ozone-depleting substances. It also destroys chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), halons, and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) which are potent greenhouse gases.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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