10. What types of soil ammendments is FASC capable of processing?
10. FASC processes gypsum, limestone, and a sulfur/potassium mixture for agricultural use.
Questions about our Kinetic Disintegration Technology.
11. Once material enters the machine, what happens to it?
11.The material enters through an air lock gate. At this point two forces act together to disintegrate the material -- high intensity sound waves and kinetic energy. The sound acts to destablize the material as it is hit with a chaining mechanism inside the machine that spins at very high speed. This begins the process of disintegration. The spinning action creates a 'cyclone' within the machine where the particles continue to collide with the chain, as well as with themselves. This collision with other particles disintegrates the material to our microfine(TM) levels. Material added to the machine, in a phrase, literally 'spins itself apart.' Air lifts the finely ground material to a particle classifier which grades particles against a pre-set level.
12. What moving parts does the material come into contact with?
12. The material comes into contact with a spinning chain mechanism.
13. What is the principal cause of material disintegration?
13. The principle cause of disintegration is the combination between high intensity sound, and high velocity impact.
14. What is the rate of wear for these moving parts?
14. The chain must be replaced at least once per day. Various bearings must be replaced at varying intervals throughout an operating month.
15. What is the source of the standing sound waves?
15. The sound waves are caused by the high speed spinning of the chaining mechanism.
16. How do these affect particle degradation?
17. What is the cost of manufacturing one unit?
18. Have you come up with a way to maximize rubber manufacturing rates?
19. What design improvements are currently under development?
20. What design improvements are required?
Questions about rubber recycling applications.
21. Does the KDS process whole tires?
22. What size requirements of the waste rubber are required?
23. Where will FASC acquire this rubber and how much will it cost?
24. How fine a powder is the technology able to reduce rubber to?
25. What is the value of rubber in this form?
26. Where is the demand for this product?
27. What products will incorporate this fine grade of rubber?
28. How much rubber can be processed in one hour?
29. What is the main hurdle preventing a higher production level?
30. How does FASC plan to alleviate this situation?
Questions about agricultural applications
31. What are the advantages of processing agricultural gypsum with FASC technology?
32. Why is gypsum necessary?
33. What are the benefits to water efficiency?
34. Why is this significant?
35. What other mineral supplements can be processed this way?
Questions about Sewage Treatment applications
36. What is the cost per ton of processing bio-sludge?
37. When will the plant be operational?
38. Will it be a source of revenue for the company?
39. Are there any other companies that can process bio-sludge as cheaply as FASC?
40. In what ways is FASC's process superior?
41. How much bio-sludge can be processed in an hour?
42. What would be the average waste sewage produced daily by a community of, say, 50 000 people?
43. Can FASC produce a larger machine that could produce more material, more quickly?
44. Are there any emissions created by the process?
45.How much wear and tear occurs, and how often must components be replaced?
16. Particle disintegration is enhanced by the sound, which destablizes the material. In a nutshell, the harder the material, the better our process works.
17. The cost for one unit is approximately $450,000 U.S.
18. A new cooling system has been designed and is being tested. Keeping the particles of crumb rubber frozen in spite of the heat generated by the friction between particles is the key.
19. Negotiations are underway with a major technical university to address the issue of the cooling system requirements. An announcement regarding this joint venture will be made when the agreement is finalized.
20. The main problem is the increased elasticity of crumb rubber when exposed to heat. The cooling system is the only design hurdle left to overcome to achieve production rates of two tons + per hour.
21. No, the KDS processes rubber crumb from old tires. Our system enhances the utility and value of this well established market niche.
22. The requirement for size are that the rubber is in crumb form. This is approximately "pebble size."
23. Crumb rubber will be acquired from crumb rubber producers, and currently sells for around $0.10 -0.30 U.S. a pound, depending on size. Our grade of particle would sell for upwards of $0.45 U.S..
24. Our tests, across two samples, produced particles of between -55 and -700 mesh (a grain of sand is about -80 mesh). The average size was -220 mesh, itself almost double the best of current methods.
25. Our grade of particle would sell for upwards of $0.50 U.S. per pound.
26. Major tire manufacturers are very interested in our grade of rubber, where it would be used as a high-grade extender (filler) for the production of new tires. Present usefulness is limited by particle size and characteristics, both of which are superior with our method.
27. Plastic injection moulding, tire manufacturers, and any other manufacturers of rubber goods would be very interested in our product.
28. Two tons per hour is the current target for production levels required to satisfy the requirements of major tire manufacturers.
29. A new cooling system is the only hurdle. It has been designed and tested, and when finished will overcome this hurdle.
30. Research and Development priority will be shifted to the rubber applications, after our new plant for sewage treatment has become operational.
31. The benefits of processing agricultural gypsum with our technology is that we can produce 'liquid grade' particle size, which means that these necessary soil supplements can be directly added to existing irrigation systems.
32. Gypsum is necessary in order to balance pH of the soil by alleviating a build-up of sodium on the soil surface, that results from irrigation water. The calcium in the mineral gypsum replaces the sodium on the soil binding sites, and carries the sodium down past the root level, where it cannot harm the plant.
33. Adding gypsum in this fashion increases water efficiency because the mineral gets exactly where it needs to be, and avoids separate applications of minerals which can require additional water.
34. This is significant, because in areas of the world where water conservation is an issue (such as California), efficiency is important for both profitable agriculture, as well as water conservation.
35. Currently, we also process limestone and a sulfur/potasium mixture, which themselves play a role in balancing soil pH.
36. The cost of processing bio-sludge has not yet been firmly established, but the cost for each machine is not expected to exceed US$15.00 per hour, or > $3.00 per ton.
37. The plant is due to be operational by the end of October, 1997.
38.The pilot plant itself is expected to be an additional source of income for the Company, but its real value will be in selling the system to waste treatment professionals from around the world who will be following the progress of the test project and monitoring test results.
39. Other technologies exist that process bio-sludge in one form or another, most of which employ either heat (expensive) or micro-organisms. (tricky, further processing required for dehydration.)
40. FASC's process requires no prior or subsequent processing to attain a fine, sterile, and dry usable product. It is cheap, simple, and easily expandable.
41. Initial tests indicate a processing level of 5- 7 tons per hour will be realized.
42. Fifty thousand people generate an average of 13.6 tons of biosludge every day, not including industrial effluents.
43. FASC is actively designing larger versions of the existing Kinetic Disintegration System that will be capable of handling up to 25 tons per hour for large municipalities.
44. Emissions are limited to the vaporization of liquids within the sludge through the Kinetic Disintegration process. No toxic emissions are anticipated as a result of processing human wastes.
45. In the processing of bio-sludge, the maintenance includes the replacement of the chain once daily and the replacement of certain bearings periodically.
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