Air Products and NORAM Form Siloxy Joint Venture to Address Pulping Liquor Discharge from Non-Wood Pulping Processes

Air Products (NYSE:APD) today announced it has formed a joint venture company named Siloxy Limited with NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to market patented and proprietary technologies to improve the environmental and economic performance of non-wood pulp mills. Many non-wood pulp and paper mills must comply with new stringent water discharge regulations. The Siloxy™ technologies provide compliance by substantially reducing the discharge of water pollutants from these mills while producing a positive return on investment. The technology may be applied to wood-based pulping as well.

“We are excited about the formation of the Siloxy joint venture and what it offers the pulp and paper industry in the way of environmental and economic benefits,” said Robert W. Levis, vice president and general manager, Asia Merchant Gases for Air Products.

“We’re very pleased to be working with Air Products to address a long-standing technical and environmental issue. We believe that we have solutions that will demonstrate economic and environmental benefits,” said George Cook, president of NORAM.

“These are proven technologies that we can put in place in regions of the globe where waste streams from straw pulping process impact water resources and water quality. Siloxy offers a way for pulp mills to continue to manufacture, reduce their environmental impact, and improve their economics,” said Tom Mullen, Siloxy’s president and general manager.

Siloxy has ownership of three novel technologies:

* Desilication technology that removes silica from a by-product stream (black liquor) of the pulping process.
* Oxidation technology which combusts black liquor or waste streams with a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) with pure oxygen.
* Evaporator technology for highly foaming black liquors.