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Polyamino acids, polysaccharides and other polymers: Aquero Company provides research and development on a contract basis in the area of polyamino acids, polysaccharides, and related chemical materials. We provide samples of novel chemical materials up to the kilogram level. We also offer technologies for license or sale.
Aquero Company focuses on discovery, proof of concept, and early commercialization of useful chemical products based on biological feedstocks. The building blocks are mainly amino acids and carbohydrates, and our products are biodegradable.
Aquero has two product lines that are now commercial, with a number of others in development. The first product is our soil-retention agent for irrigation farming, brandnamed SoilSentry™. It was introduced in the Imperial Valley of California two years ago and is undergoing adoption elsewhere in California and the western USA. SoilSentry is being commercialized by our partner company, Crop Production Services, Inc. SoilSentry prevents erosion of soil from the fields and helps to keep agricultural additives like fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides on the field as well. The runoff water and the receiving streams are thus kept clear and clean.
Our water treatment chemicals, brandnamed FLOXX, are being commercialized by our partner company, FilterBoxx Water and Environmental. They are undergoing rapid adoption at present in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada.
The term "oil sands", also often called "tar sands", is quite descriptive. The oil-sands deposits look like dark sand with oil in it (roughly 10% by weight as oil). They occur at the surface in some areas and at depths up to 400 meters and more in others.
The amount of recoverable oil in oil sands in Canada is about the same as the amount of recoverable oil in the middle east. There also are sizable oil-sands deposits in the USA, mainly in Utah, that are only lately being brought into production. There is even more potentially recoverable oil in the oil shale deposits in several western states. These resources are also now a focus of intensive R&D.
In general, in oil recovery operations in Canada and elsewhere, for each barrel of oil recovered, there are about 2.5 barrels (or more) of water produced that contain oily residuals. This "produced water" must be clarified prior to returning it to the environment or recycling it into the recovery operations. Our FLOXX chemicals and processes provide quick, highly effective, and clean ways to do this.
At present, Canada is the number 1 exporter of oil to the USA, providing about 20% of our imports. In recent months, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela each have provided in the range of 10 to 12% of our imports. As a point of interest, Iraq has been the source of approximately 6% of our foreign imports over the past several years. In a typical month, approximately 70 foreign countries sell oil into USA markets.
It is quite a large undertaking to recover this oil and to keep the operations safe, clean, and sustainable. Aquero Company enjoys being able to promote environmental health through cost-effective, clean, and biofriendly chemistry.
Aquero's products and processes are based on renewable resources
and sustainable chemistries. We have been able to solve the cost/performance equation and now have molecules and
products that compete favorably on both cost and performance versus conventional vinyl polymers. Our technology platform
is very broad and can address a wide range of consumer, healthcare, and industrial markets.
There are circumstances and applications, however, in which the vinyl polymers are preferred.
For example, their carbon-carbon backbones impart greater thermal stability and resistance to microbial attack. Another attribute
is that their method of synthesis can be readily arranged to favor production of very high Mw, linear molecules.
This can be useful in several ways. One of these is that the very long polymers are capable of bridging of particles
at the nanometer level, as is needed in flocculation mechanisms.
Actually, we like the vinyl polymers and recognize their many useful attributes. We work with them too and try to recommend the best solution to a problem. Sometimes this is a wholly vinyl approach, or it may incorporate other conventional chemicals as well. On other occasions, we have identified interesting and helpful synergisms between the vinyl and the biological polymers. Some of these compositions and products offer a practical option for improved performance along with a better environmental profile. |
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