RDT newspaper article.
Deicing technology shines spotlight on Port business
wellandtribune.ca
MARK TAYTI
Local News - Thursday, February 15, 2007 @ 09:00
Colin Digout anxiously awaits the type of weather that paralyzed southern Ontario Wednesday.
It's a perfect training ground for the non-glycol deicing system developed by the Radiant Energy Corporation. It's a system that is changing the way the aviation industry looks at how jets are made ready for the runway in extremely cold weather.
Digout, who occupies a small office on Catharine Street In Port Colborne, is the president and chief financial officer of a company that is knocking at the door of airports around the world.
He is confident that new concern for the environment and the mounting cost of deicing airplanes in the conventional manner will create a hot market for the company's deicing equipment.
"Someone stranded at an airport could get home today because of our equipment," Digout said.
In many instances, airports are open during extreme weather but there simply is not enough glycol-based deicing services available to get the planes off the ground.
The non-glycol based system developed by Radiant Energy not only cuts the time it takes to deice planes as large as the 747, but airports don't have to meet the stringent rules of the Environmental Protection Agency for glycol mitigation.
Glycol is a type of antifreeze used in the deicing process at most major airports around the world.
Not so, however, in Newark, New Jersey; and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Digout said JFK is the showcase for Radiant Energy Corporation's non-glycol deicing system. It was operating Wednesday during the storm that ravaged the eastern seaboard.
The Radiant Energy System uses infrared energy fueled by natural gas to melt ice off the jumbo jets. The byproduct is mostly water, which requires no complicated EPA-imposed recovery process.
"On days like this, the process proves itself," Digout said.
"It's fiscally and environmentally responsible."
When asked why such a unique company is not taking up space in a large corporate headquarters somewhere, Digout said the knowledge-based business operates in a "virtual office" with various small office sites connected through the Internet.
As the company grows, Digout does not expect manpower to increase dramatically because the design/build/management model tenders out all of the construction work and physical services.
Currently, China and the European Union are looking at the technology developed in the U.S. in 1998 with Canadian financial backing.
The company is also in the research and development phase of trying to develop a portable non-glycol deicing system for the U.S. military.
Stationary systems for large jumbo jets cost between $10 and $12.5 million to construct, but the systems pay huge dividends when you consider that traditional deicing methods can cost two to three times as much.
The radiant energy process is also a time saver, taking between 15 and 20 minutes to deice a jet and ready it for take off.
Radiant Energy is in the process of activating another non-glycol deicing system in Oslo, Norway.
"People accept the technology," Digout said, adding the system is FAA-approved and has been field tested enough to prove its worth.
"This is a good news story," Digout said. "We're saving people money and we're helping the environment." |
