Chicago-based fuel technology firm plans move to Davenport
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By Tom Saul | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 |
There is an adage that oil and water don’t mix, but Micro Bubble Technology Inc., a Chicago firm that plans to relocate to Davenport, hopes to make a mountain of money by proving that saying wrong.
The company is the exclusive supplier in the United States and Europe of a technology invented by a South Korean engineering professor that mixes water and various types of oil at a submicron level. The result is an emulsion fuel that burns more efficiently, reduces emissions by 60 percent and cuts fuel costs by up to 30 percent, said Michael Siegel, company president.
Within three months, Siegel said, he plans to find an existing building in Davenport, hire up to 25 assemblers, sales and support staff and begin putting together the machines that mix water with fuel oils, waste oil, used or contaminated motor oil, bunker oil and even used vegetable oil to produce a high-efficiency, lower-cost fuel that burns while producing significantly less soot and other pollutants.
“We wanted to locate in Davenport because there is plenty of water and a large labor pool,” Siegel said. “Land is also inexpensive, and it is easy to set up shop. You have an environment in the city where your government wants to help attract business.”
Davenport Alderman Mike Matson, 8th Ward, said he and other city officials have met with Siegel and others from the company to talk about relocating here. The city is helping the company to find a building and is in discussions with the firm about potential forms of assistance.
The technology also uses a proprietary additive to keep the emulsion fuel stable and prevent it from separating into its water and oil components during long-term storage, said Chul Won Choi, director of engineering at the Dong Seoul College in South Korea, inventor of the technology.
A key feature of the technology is that it is capable of mixing the fuel at the point of use, Choi said through an interpreter. It can be located at fuel terminals, truck fleet sites, power plants or anyplace there is an adequate water supply.
In Japan, where the technology is used by some large companies to reclaim waste oil and for power generation, some fishing boats also have the units on board to mix emulsion fuel at sea, Choi said. Units can be sized to fit the needs of most users.
“The technology has been in use for five years,” Choi said. “Some of Japan’s biggest companies use it. Toyota (Motor Corp.) uses it to reclaim waste oil for use in industrial furnaces. Nippon Steel also uses it.”
While declining to offer a name, Robert Egger, the firm’s chief executive officer, mentioned a company whose fleet used $14 million worth of diesel fuel a year. By using the technology, it cut its annual fuel costs by up to $5 million.
The technology also has applications in agriculture and livestock processing beyond saving on fuel costs and lowering emissions, Siegel said. Liquid manure can be processed to break it down into water and a solid component that can be dried and spread on fields.
“It eliminates the smell, and the water that comes out is antiseptic,” Siegel said. “If you use the process at a livestock operation, you can spray the water on the floors of the holding buildings and it knocks down odor and kills bacteria.”
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.
Micro Bubble Technology Inc.
Micro Bubble Technology Inc. plans to relocate from Chicago to Davenport and open an assembly and sales facility for a device that mixes water and fuel oil to form a cleaner-burning emulsion that cuts fuel costs. Facts about the technology include:
- It is capable of using diesel and other fuel oils, bunker oil, waste oil, contaminated oil and used vegetable oil. It also has applications in processing liquid manure.
- The emulsion fuel contains 60 percent oil and 40 percent water and can be burned in fuel oil vehicles, furnaces and boilers. An additive keeps the fuel from separating for long-term storage.
- The emulsion fuel costs up to 30 percent less than a similar amount of regular fuel oil and burns with 60 percent fewer emissions.
Source: Micro Bubble Technology
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