The Company believes that PEM™ systems provide a substantial improvement in waste treatment in terms of cost, environmental quality, potential to extract value from the waste and range of application. PEM™ systems use special, highly controllable plasma heating in a unique waste glassification system to fundamentally alter waste materials converting the organic portion into a useful hydrogen-rich gas and the inorganic portion into a solid, non-leachable, glass-like material. In the PEM™ process the waste is heated, breaking the chemical bonds of the organic components, reforming them in a gasification process into the useful hydrogen-rich gas. The inorganic components are converted chemically into an oxide (e.g., CaO, SiO2) that becomes incorporated into the glass-like material in a process called vitrification. These oxides are further heated to their melting points turning them into a vitreous (glass-like) material.

The diagram below illustrates the process flow for a typical PEM™ system:

Building on a base of over $300 million in research and development, PEM™ systems evolved directly from established glass melter technology developed at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ("PNNL"). PEM™ systems are specially designed to greatly increase the throughput capability of glass melter technology, substantially increase cost effectiveness and widen the range of waste streams that can be processed. The PEM™ system is based upon numerous patents covering the development work of the IET technical team, as well as licenses from Battelle and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). IET has proven its technology at pilot scale and in full-size commercial systems for its efficacy in processing a variety of waste streams and has sold several systems of various sizes for waste streams including hazardous, radioactive and medical waste. IET has also demonstrated successful permitting of its systems and has been notified by the EPA that they certify the PEM™ systems to meet the equivalency of the BDAT (Best Demonstrated Available Technology) Standard under RCRA (The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) for incineration and combustion.

Operational advantages of PEM™ systems, relative to other waste treatment and disposal methods are numerous. These advantage include:

• ENERGY - The energy value of the organic components of the waste material is recovered through the production of a hydrogen-rich syngas. The syngas composition is typically about 40% to 45% hydrogen and 35% to 40% carbon monoxide. The high temperature PEM™ gasification process produces an initially clean syngas with few impurities. After the gas passes through the syngas cleaning system, virtually no impurities remain. The gas has a heating value typically between 250 to 290 Btu/scf. The syngas energy recovery alternatives include:
  • Electric power can be produced using an internal combustion engine or a gas turbine driven generator. Syngas can be used directly or combined with natural gas, propane or diesel fuel in a dual-fueled application to increase the power generation as needed.
  • Hydrogen can be recovered directly from the syngas using PSA technology or additional hydrogen can be produced using a catalytic shift reactor followed by a PSA. IET has demonstrated very high purity hydrogen production using a PSA. The hydrogen is suitable for use at oil refineries, with fuel cells and for other demanding applications.
    
    
• SALABLE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS - The glass byproduct of PEM™ processing of waste can have commercial use. Industrial applications for the glass product include use as a substitute sand blasting material, which has been proven highly cost effective in tests for customers; decorative tiles such as roofing material; insulating panels; construction blocks; aggregate for road building, and other commercial products. It is also possible to recover metal from certain waste streams. The value of recovered metal will depend on the variety of metals in the waste stream. A stream with a consistent metallic content may produce a metal by-product with high recycling value.
• LOW EMISSIONS / REDUCED POLLUTION - Air emissions from PEM™ systems are considerably lower than the emissions from incineration or the greenhouse gases generated by landfilling. This near elimination of pollution occurs because the waste is processed by plasma heating rather than by combustion of the waste in the case of incineration or by physical degradation (rotting), as is the case with landfilling. Because the hydrogen-rich gas is created by gasification, not combustion, and is cleaned prior to use in energy generation or further processing, undesirable products associated with combustion, such as dioxin and furans, are virtually eliminated. Metal air emissions are also greatly reduced relative to incineration. Mercury emissions are effectively reduced to below detection levels in specially designed carbon filters. This provides for very clean, very low emissions from electric power production, hydrogen recovery or alcohol production.
• SAFE, STABLE BYPRODUCTS - The volume of the solid byproducts (i.e., glass product and recovered metal) produced by PEM™ processing is between two and fifty percent of the volume of the original waste stream, dependent on the type of waste. As mentioned above, the glass material produced by PEM™ systems is very stable and, therefore, if no commercial application is chosen, the glass material does not require special disposal (except in the case of radioactive waste). This is due to the stable nature of the material that creates no threat of leaching and contamination of surrounding soil, water and air.
• COST COMPETITIVENESS - The reduction of air pollution, the elimination or reduction of undesirable solid waste products and the recovery of energy and materials at competitive costs are important factors that can lead to demand for PEM™ systems. These features will help customers meet current environmental standards in the United States and other developed countries. Moreover, more stringent standards and public concerns about the environment are proving to be a continuing trend worldwide.

In addition to these advantages, PEM™ systems are:

• Uniquely optimized. The plasma heating capabilities are specially integrated with modified glass melter features. These features include immersed AC electrodes, distributed heating and overall system design. The specially designed electrode subsystems provide exceptional spatial and temporal control of process heating which allows the most efficient use of input power. The systems are integrated with special energy recovery systems for a variety of applications. The PEM™ systems have excellent process control capability.
• An improvement over conventional glass melter technology. PEM™ systems remove major limitations of the immersed electrode glass melter vitrification systems, including inapplicability to a number of waste streams (particularly those containing metals and combustible materials) and significant restrictions on throughput (which has a substantial effect on treatment cost). While removing these limitations, PEM™ systems maintain the advantages of immersed electrode glass melters, including high availability, high reliability and the capability to produce a stable, high-quality glass product. Maintaining these advantages and providing additional advantages as a result of the exceptional process control offer important cost and environmental advantages relative to competing plasma furnace technology used for waste processing.
• Designed to be scalable. PEM™ systems are designed to provide high throughput in relatively compact units that can be constructed over a range of sizes. The treatment cost for regulated waste streams, such as medical and hazardous waste, may be significantly reduced, and the potential toxicity of these waste streams can be virtually eliminated, alleviating concerns over future liability. Moreover, because of its potential environmental attractiveness and ease of siting, PEM™ systems could be conveniently located to reduce waste transportation costs.

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