São Paulo – Go Tratch, a Brazilian company specialized in soil and groundwater remediation, wants to enter the Middle East market with its own technology designed for areas contaminated with hydrocarbons, that is, oil, gas and its by-products. “The Middle East market is our main interest”, said Celso Magalhães, controlling partner of the company.
Magalhães is a geophysicist and explains that the “classical” decontamination method uses a hydrogen peroxide solution, which oxidizes the oil, a reaction that produces water and carbon dioxide. According to him, however, this process takes months or even years, and could spread the contaminant to a larger area, clay in the soil could prevent the entry of the reagent and there is a large increase in temperature.
With the technology developed by the company, called Redentis, a drop of the reagent (hydrogen peroxide or other) is divided in a million of other smaller drops, called nanobubbles. An electric charge causes repulsion and prevents these particles to get back together. According to the bussineman, the contact surface of the group of nanobubbles is larger, which allows to encompass all of the contaminant, but at the same time the particles are individually smaller, which allows the clay to go through.
Besides, a catalytic called Fentox is added, which prevents the temperature to increase. Magalhães guarantees that the reaction is concluded in a matter of hours and there’s little or any residue.
“The Middle East has two fantastic characteristics [for the use of this technology]: a lot of contamination [due to the large oil production] and a lot of sand [due to the deserts]”, said the businessman. Sand, according to him, is the ideal ground for the application of the services and products of his company.
Among the countries in which he’s interested, Magalhães listed the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. “We want somebody that can be our partner over there (in the region), someone that knows the market”, he pointed out. “I would like to develop the technology over there”, he added.
This week, the company presents its experiences at the 14th International Congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society (CISBGF) in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The businessman emphasizes that these processes exist for five years already and that they were applied in approximately 200 cases in Brazil, and that he’s been operating in the oil industry for more than 30 years.
Contacts:
Go Tratch
Phone: (31) 3194-8400
Email: celsomagalhaes@cemafbr.com.br
Website: www.gotrtch.com.br
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
