ThermoEnergy Corp. said that final rules for airport de-icing operations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provide an opportunity for the company to help airports protect the environment and save money.
The new rules, aimed at protecting the nation's water, call for tougher permitting for the collection of spent aircraft de-icing fluids (ADF) and for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) agents such as propylene glycol. In addition, the new standards also call for the use of best available technology standards (BAT) at airports that directly discharge wastewater into U.S. waterways and set a minimum COD effluent removal rate of 97%.
ThermoEnergy's ADF Recovery System can meet and exceed BAT performance standards and recovery of glycol of 99% purity that meets ASTM standards for recovered glycol. This means that recovered glycol can be sold to recyclers and generate revenue to offset de-icing operational costs, which are expected to increase significantly at many airports due to the new EPA rules.
"We can reduce the cost of de-icing operations by up to 50% by recycling the spent glycol in the aircraft de-icing fluid," said ThermoEnergy Chairman and CEO Cary Bullock. "We look forward to providing airports and the environment with the benefits our technology."
Inland Waters of Ohio has been successfully operating a ThermoEnergy ADF Recovery System for five years at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Source: ThermoEnergy