LITTLE ROCK, AR, Jan. 10, 2008 -- ThermoEnergy Corporation announced the release of an engineering study by HydroQual Inc., internationally renowned experts in water resources management, confirming the many economic and process advantages of using the Company's patented Ammonia Recovery Process® (ARP) technology to greatly reduce the amount of ammonia currently being discharged from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. The study utilized the industry leading BioWin® modeling software to support the report's conclusion that ARP requires significantly less space, uses less energy and dramatically lowers both capital and operating costs for ammonia- nitrogen treatment relative to the use of conventional biological methods.
Thousands of tons of nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, are being discharged into local waterways everyday by wastewater treatment plants throughout the US and around the world. Many states, and as well as the federal government, have begun to regulate the amount of ammonia discharged to protect the environment. While ammonia, in small amounts, is present in many industrial and household products, in large doses it is harmful to human health and extremely toxic to aquatic life. The presence of ammonia in waterways and aquifers creates conditions resulting in the creation of 'Dead Zones'; areas within a body of water where fish and shellfish cannot live. Currently, there are over 140 Dead Zones throughout the world including some of the nation's leading bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, Gulf of Mexico and Narragansett Bay, among others.
"Ammonia represents a significant environmental and regulatory problem for many municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plant operators, both in the US and worldwide," said Dennis Cossey, ThermoEnergy's CEO. "Therefore when you provide an alternative to age old biological process methods that is far more reliable, more efficient, takes up less space, uses less energy and costs less to operate, it becomes a very attractive package for these plant operators," said Cossey. In addition, ARP is the only ammonia removal technology that provides for beneficial reuses by capturing ammonia and converting it into concentrated ammonium sulfate -- a commercial grade fertilizer used worldwide.
One of the key uses for the ARP® process in municipal wastewater treatment plants is removing a significant amount of ammonia found in the plant's internal recycle stream, called centrate or filtrate. Using ARP® in this manner not only generates the economic and environmental benefits described above but increases the overall efficiency of the wastewater treatment plant. ARP® is the core technology being utilized in the Company's planned $12.4 million ammonia removal project for the City of New York.
Founded in 1988, ThermoEnergy is a diversified technologies company engaged in the worldwide commercialization of patented and/or proprietary municipal and industrial wastewater treatment and power generation technologies.
HydroQual Inc. is a privately-owned environmental engineering and consulting firm.
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