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Brief but comprehensive explanation of ABHD technology67 WALL STREET, New York - August 19, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Water Services Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs and Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online. Topics covered: Water Infrastructure Development - Irrigation and Metering Technology - Water Industry Consolidation - Regulatory Headwinds for U.S. Utilities Companies include: AbTech Industries (ABHD) and many more. In the following excerpt from the Water Services Report, the Founder, President and CEO of AbTech Industries (ABHD) discusses company strategy and the outlook for this vital industry: TWST: You mentioned the Smart Sponge. What exactly is that, and what does it do? Mr. Rink: The Smart Sponge combines two different types of polymers. We have 17 issued U.S. patents and 16 international patents, covering the chemical structure and making of the end product. We essentially process two different types of polymers that we grind down to specific particle sizes and then blend them together and put them through an extrusion process. Extrusion is normally high-pressure and high-heat, but this is completely the opposite. Our process requires almost no heat or pressure. It creates a very porous material. One of the materials melts at a lower temperature than the other, creating an agglomerated material that looks like white popcorn and has tremendous porosity. Smart Sponge is essentially oleophilic, meaning it's chemically selective toward hydrocarbon; and hydrophobic, meaning it doesn't absorb any water. Given the Smart Sponge's porosity, high volumes of water can flow uninterrupted through the Smart Sponge and simultaneously treated. There are media such as sand and membrane filters that have been out there for many years that can be effective in specific areas but have overall application limitations. Sand, for example, has limited flow rates, so you need a lot of it to be able to use it and a lot of space along with other limitations, such as if oil gets on it, it washes back off. With Smart Sponge, the oil is captured and permanently bonded and cannot wash off, since once it absorbs the oil - which is part of the "why" our technology is smart, because it's chemically selective - it permanently encapsulates it so you cannot squeeze it out, and it will not leach out. You can actually take the spent sponge to a waste-to-energy facility and burn it is as a fuel source, as it has a very high BTU value, generally greater than 18,000 BTU per pound. In the stormwater space, the spent sponge is taken to waste-to-energy facilities. In the fracking industry, however, the spent sponge that has harvested the last remaining hydrocarbons out of the contaminated flowback water can be liquefied to retrieve over 90% of the oil the sponge captured. This fuel can now be sold to an oil company. From beginning to end, our technology... For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online. |
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