IET technology has its origins in many decades of work in the development of two technologies - plasma technology and glass melter technology. By integrating these two technologies in a very special way, IET technology provides the ultimate capability in converting waste into useful products and maximizes the potential for recycling. The technology achieves this goal by an optimized form of high temperature electrical heating. The IET technology builds upon extensive U.S. Department of Energy sponsored research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Plasmas are electrically conducting gases. Because of their special properties they are sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter. Plasmas exist over a wide range of temperatures and are generally hotter then 5,000 °C. Familiar plasmas on earth are lightning bolts and electric arc furnaces used for steel making. The sun and the stars are also plasmas, producing their power at very high temperatures by thermonuclear fusion. In fact, most of the universe consists of plasmas.

At MIT, plasma applications have been investigated extensively at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT's largest on-campus laboratory. In 1991, the Plasma Science and Fusion Center decided to investigate the use of plasmas for treatment of radioactive waste at United States Department of Energy sites. The high temperature of plasmas and their ability to treat waste without the adverse environmental effects encountered in incineration made plasma technology a very attractive area for investigation. MIT, together with an industrial subcontractor, formed a collaborative effort with PNNL. PNNL is considered one of the world leaders in waste treatment technology because of its work as the research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford site in Richland, Washington. The Hanford site is one of the major Department of Energy sites in America.

The MIT - PNNL effort constructed a research device at MIT for studies of plasma arc waste treatment. The system employed a single graphite electrode and was used for a variety of tests. These tests confirmed the basic attractiveness of plasmas for treating mixtures of radioactive and hazardous waste.

In 1995, this research program was evaluated by a Department of Energy review. The review concluded that the graphite electrode DC arc plasma system was the most promising approach for meeting its needs to treat mixtures of hazardous and radioactive waste.

Encouraged by the progress of the government sponsored program, the principals of the program - Dr. Daniel R. Cohn of MIT, Jeffrey E. Surma of PNNL and Charles H. Titus, who had been with General Electric Company and was a consultant to MIT- began to think of ways to improve the plasma waste treatment process and to make it applicable to all types of waste including medical waste, tires, a variety of hazardous waste and municipal waste.

Dr. Cohn, Mr. Surma and Mr. Titus developed a concept for integrating plasma technology with glass melter technology, which had been very successfully developed for treatment of the most dangerous radioactive waste - high level waste. Instead of a single graphite electrode, they developed a concept for combining a specially optimized configuration of multiple plasma electrodes, which would provide radiant heating, with submerged electrodes in a molten glass bath, which would provide resistive heating of the bath. The system provided optimized electrical heating with exceptional process control. This powerful basic concept was then developed in depth and in a variety of embodiments. Mr. Surma, Mr. Titus and Dr. Cohn have since obtained extensive patent protection for their work.

Since this new approach represented a major advance and could provide the ultimate in waste treatment, the inventors began to look for ways to commercialize the technology. They teamed with Larry Dinkin, a very successful entrepreneur and investor whom Dr. Cohn had known for some time. The technology that was developed, which is called Plasma Enhanced Melter™ (PEM™) technology converts waste into clean gas which may have useful energy value, glass and, in some cases, recyclable metals. The gas is produced from the organic material in the waste. The glass, which is produced from the inorganic material, is highly stable and non-leachable. Extensive studies by Mr. Surma and his coworkers at PNNL have shown that this type of glass will completely immobilize waste. The funds expended in the development of this technology include over $300 million of U.S. government R & D support for waste treatment at PNNL in addition to $12 million spent specifically on the arc plasma system program at MIT.

Dr. Cohn, Messrs. Titus, Surma and Dinkin founded Integrated Environmental Technologies (IET) in July 1995. IET has exclusive rights to the PEM™ technology. In 1996, IET opened its Technology Center in Richland, Washington.

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