FMC, partners form US air pollution control venture
FMC Corp., Church & Dwight Co. and TATA Chemicals (soda ash) have agreed to form a partnership to manufacture and market sodium-based, dry sorbents for air pollution control in electric utility and industrial boiler operations.
The sorbents, primarily sodium bicarbonate and trona, are used by coal-fired utilities to remove harmful pollutants, such as acid gases, in flue-gas treatment processes.
Independent estimates put market demand for these sorbents in the $200-$400 million range by 2015.
The new entity, Natronx Technologies, will be headquartered in Princeton, N.J.
Natronx will produce, sell and distribute sorbents to users of Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) technology. The US Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that DSI technology will likely be employed by nearly 20% of U.S. coal-fired electric generation capacity as part of compliance with air pollution regulations recently issued in March 2011.
DSI technology enables utilities to reduce the significant capital investment required by the new regulations by using this sodium-based media in the removal technique.
Natronx said it intends to invest approximately $60 million to construct a 450,000 tpy facility to produce trona sorbents by the fourth quarter of 2012. The investment will be shared equally by the partners.
The three top officials will be assigned from each partner company: general manager, Arthur Esposito (Church & Dwight); sales and marketing director, Travis Vaughn (FMC) and chief financial officer, John Mulhall (TATA Chemicals).
"We are pleased to have three well-established companies joining forces to provide potential customers with innovative and cost-competitive solutions that effectively address their air emission compliance needs," said Arthur Esposito, general manager of Natronx.
"Natronx combines the best of each company's technologies and know-how in building a world class business, based on new technology, with manufacturing capability to produce and supply sodium sorbent products."
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