Enviro Voraxial Technology to Compete in Final Phase of the $1.4 Million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE
Team Voraxial Ships Submersible Voraxial® 8000 Separator
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL , Aug 30, 2011 - Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. (OTCQB: EVTN) announced today that EVTN’s “Team Voraxial” has manufactured and shipped their high volume Submersible Voraxial 8000 to OHMSETT (The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility) in Leonardo, NJ, USA, to compete as a Finalist in the $1.4 Million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. EVTN is among the 10 finalists that were selected for the final phase of the competition from more than 350 international contenders.
The Submersible Voraxial 8000 Separator can process up to seven million gallons of oil/water mixture per day (a rate of 5,000 gallons per minute). This new, larger capacity version of EVTN’s proven Voraxial series offers all of the performance advantages of the patented Voraxial technology, along with high volume processing capacity in a compact, energy efficient package. The Submersible Voraxial 8000 can operate at various ocean depths allowing the operator more flexibility to treat various types of spills such as oil that resides on the surface or oil that is being released on the ocean floor, an example of which includes a subsea oil recovery system that is currently being evaluated by the US Coast Guard.
"We are beyond excited to demonstrate to the world the Submersible Voraxial 8000 in action", stated Laura Di Bella, Vice President of Marketing and Investor Relations for EVTN. “This is undoubtedly a great accomplishment for us and a major advance in the ability to contain and clean major oil spills. We have high hopes for our performance in the finals of this competition".
The capability of the Submersible Voraxial Separator to be deployed in the ocean represents a dramatic improvement in the ability to design truly effective marine oil spill response and recovery systems. These unique features coupled with self pumping capability, low energy requirements and submersible operation allows the creation of a new generation of high capacity oil spill response vessels that can be small, fast maneuverable and capable of being rapidly deployed. This type of effective marine oil spill response has not been available and is urgently needed to ensure the safety of our environment from major oil spills.
By conducting the separation in the ocean, the cleaned water remains in the ocean while the oil is extracted by the Voraxial and deposited into a tank. In addition to the high volume processing efficiencies, the sub-surface operation allows response vessels equipped with submersible Voraxials to skim the spilled oil for 10 times longer since the volume of oil/water collected in the holding tanks is reduced by 90%. The oil is separated from the skimmed water from below the surface and piped to a holding tank while the clean water discharge remains in the ocean and can even be employed to propel and maneuver the vessel at skimming speed. This differs substantially from the current methods of collecting large volumes of oil/water mixture in a tank and then conducting the separation on board or on shore.
The US government estimates indicate that the entire skimmer fleet deployed for the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico only recovered three to four percent of the 52,000 to 62,000 barrels of oil per day spilled into the Gulf. Other official websites showed less than 1000 barrels per day recovered during the Gulf spill. Since the alternative methods used, chemical dispersants and burning, are hazardous to the environment; a breakthrough solution for containing and cleaning major oil spills is critically needed. By contrast, thirty advanced skimmer boats each equipped with two Voraxial 8000 Separators would be able to process more than 9.5 million barrels per day of oily water and recover approximately 10% (950,000 barrels) of oil per day. This recovery rate is more than 15 times the maximum spill rate estimate from Deepwater Horizon. The comparatively low capital cost to acquire and install the Voraxial Separators on existing vessels would enable the entire Gulf of Mexico to be equipped to handle multiple catastrophic oil spills at the same time. Smaller, shallow draft vessels can also be equipped with a high volume Voraxial Separator for oil spills in difficult to access areas such as estuaries and rivers, and to provide high maneuverability in harbors and congested locations.
The X PRIZE Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization solving the world's Grand Challenges through creating and managing large-scale, global incentivized competitions, developed this X CHALLENGE to inspire entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists worldwide to develop innovative, rapidly deployable and highly efficient methods of capturing crude oil from the ocean surface. The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE was launched in July 2010 in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Phase II finals of the competition will run through the end of September, with the winner to be announced in mid-October. The team that demonstrates the ability to recover oil on the sea-water surface at the highest oil recovery rate (ORR) above 2,500 gallons per minute with an oil efficiency (ORE) of greater than 70 percent will win the $1 million Grand Purse. Second place will win $300,000 and third place will win $100,000. Additionally, Shell has committed to work with the X PRIZE Foundation to involve oil industry experts and other industry leaders to promote, utilize and bring the winning technologies to market.
For additional details on the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE, visit http://www.iprizecleanoceans.org.
ABOUT ENVIRO VORAXIAL TECHNOLOGY
Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. (OTCBB “EVTN”) is a Fort Lauderdale, Florida based CleanTech company that developed and manufactures the Voraxial Separator, a highly efficient technology for high volume, bulk separation of fluids such as oil and water.
The Voraxial Separator is a unique, patented, in-line, continuous-flow separator capable of pumping and simultaneously separating up to three components, such as oil, water and sand. It’s a mechanical separator that separates contaminants at high volumes with less space, energy, weight and cost than conventional equipment. The Voraxial Separator benefits include: high volume/small footprint, no pressure drop requirement, two-way or three-way separation, ability to handle fluctuations in flow rate and oil concentration without any adjustments, high “G” force and less maintenance than conventional equipment. These benefits result in significant acquisition and operating cost savings to the customer. The Voraxial may stand alone or serve to enhance the capabilities of other environmental or energy technologies.
The separation market encompasses a series of multi-billion dollar segments including: oil and gas exploration and production, refinery, tar sands, mining, oil spill, wastewater treatment, manufacturing, remediation and much more. EVTN was originally founded as a high precision aerospace manufacturer that built the gyro platforms for the Hubble space telescope as well as missile and satellite components. EVTN owns significant intellectual property surrounding the Voraxial. For more information, please visit www.evtn.com.
ABOUT THE WENDY SCHMIDT OIL CLEANUP X CHALLENGE
The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE is a $1.4 million competition designed to inspire a new generation of innovative solutions that will speed the pace of cleaning up seawater surface oil resulting from spillage from ocean platforms, tankers, and other sources. It is a one-year competition with head-to-head competitive demonstrations taking place at OHMSETT - the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility - in Leonardo, NJ, USA (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.). A $1 million Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that demonstrates the ability to recover oil on the sea surface at the highest oil recovery rate (ORR) and the highest Oil Recovery Efficiency (ORE). Second place will win $300,000 and third place will win $100,000.
ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
Founded in 1995, the X PRIZE Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization solving the world’s Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself. The organization motivates and inspires brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation conducts competitions in four Prize Groups: Education & Global Development; Energy & Environment; Life Sciences; and Exploration (Ocean and Deep Space). Prizes won include the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private, suborbital space flight; the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE for creating safe, affordable, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPG energy equivalent (MPGe); and the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE CHALLENGE for advanced rocket development. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PRIZE, and the $1.4 million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. For more information, visit Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..
Safe Harbor Disclosure -- This Press Release contains or incorporates by reference "forward-looking statements," including certain information with respect to plans and strategies of Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. For this purpose, any statements regarding this announcement, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc’s. belief, expectations, hopes or intentions regarding the future. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and based on information available to Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. as of such date. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual events or actual results of Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. and its subsidiaries to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.
Media contact:
Laura DiBella
(954) 958.9968
laura@evtn.com
Investor Relations:
ir@pricetargetmedia.com
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