Three Colorado businesses win EPA research contracts

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding three Phase II contracts to Colorado businesses through its Small Business Innovation Research program. Each company will receive $225,000.

PolyNew, Inc. of Golden: The purpose of this multi-phase SBIR research project is to develop and commercialize next-generation bioplastics using nanotechnology to address ecological concerns. EPA expects the resulting “green” plastics to compete on a price and performance basis. Because of the commercialization potential of the nanotechnology, a commercialization agreement with the $4 billion in multinational sales Sealed Air Corp. will provide rapid commercialization if the technical milestones of this Phase II project are met.

TDA Research, Inc. of Wheat Ridge: TDA proposes to develop a low-cost, high-capacity sorbent that will directly remove organic sulfur from gasoline blend stocks, producing a fuel that meets the 30 parts per million sulfur specification for gasoline. This TDA technology, by reducing the emissions of environmental pollutants, would supply U.S. refineries with a cost-effective sulfur removal technology that help them to meet the EPA requirements.

Eltron Research, Inc. of Boulder: Polychlorinate biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, remain a significant environmental threat even though manufacturing of PCBs was discontinued 30 years ago. Eltron is developing a portable real-time sensor that can be used on-site to not only identify which PCBs are present but also quantify PCB concentration. A global market of $119 million is anticipated for this type of instrument by 2009.