PharmAust Limited’s (ASX:PAA) subsidiary Epichem Pty Ltd has confirmed the completion of the building of a benchtop Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution (OHD) Flow Reactor.
Built by Epichem’s subsidiary Epichem OHD Pty Ltd, the OHD will aide in the research, development and promotion of novel, innovative and disruptive waste to fuels technology.
The flow reactor is located at Epichem’s purpose-built state of the art laboratory at Technology Park in Bentley, Western Australia.
Epichem OHD will advance the innovative OHD technology using biomass/feedstock flow reactor material science. The OHD technology is a world-first with its potential to turn a wide range of waste and biomass feedstock into valuable fuels, fine chemicals, fertilisers, agricultural growth stimulants and ethanol. Epichem OHD is capitalising on recent Australian policies at national, state and local government levels towards zero organic waste to landfill.
Epichem CEO, Colin La Galia, said the benchtop flow reactor will be carbon neutral, environmentally sustainable and uses oxygen and water at high temperature and pressure to break down input materials and form useful end products.
The flow reactor has the potential to convert:
- Plastics into renewable fuels
- Coal into diesel or agricultural bio-stimulants (diesel, fine chemicals and bio-stimulants)
- Rubber tyres into liquid fuels/valuable chemical products
- Trees into cellulosic ethanol/fine chemicals
- Leftover stock or crops into liquid fuel – cellulosic ethanol and agricultural biostimulants.
Epichem is in discussions with several mining and fertiliser stakeholders regarding the use of its OHD Technology.
The technology used in the flow reactor could also be used to enhance the process of carbon storage in soils. It may also have application in the minerals recovery sector.
We are very encouraged to achieve this milestone of having the OHD benchtop flow reactor set up and operational. Now we move to the next stage of evaluating its potential. We are eager to learn more of its capabilities and applications,” Mr La Galia said.
“The flow reactor has the potential to help deal with converting and re-purposing waste. It has the ability to create a new innovative and disruptive technology in Australia, can be scaled up for a range of industry partners and create employment in WA and Australia.”
Mr La Galia said the technology has the potential to create new revenue streams from:
- Removal of organic waste
- Conversion of organic waste to valuable end user products
- Reduce landfill.
Epichem was awarded a $200,000 WasteSorted e-Waste Grant from the Western Australian Government New Industries Fund in January 2021. This will support developing a new process for ewaste and reduce the amount of e-waste in landfill.
