THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (November 06, 2009). Green Source Energy LLC (“GSE”) announced today the acquisition of a breakthrough technology to devulcanize rubber. “We are excited about this addition, because the technology fits well with our existing line of applications and builds on our green focus,” said GSE’s Chief Executive Officer, Fitz Lee. “Dealing with used rubber products, especially the growing mountains of old tires, is a global problem,” continued Lee. “Our technology offers the best solution for this economic and environmental issue.”
GSE’s new devulcanization technology is based on the company’s family of proprietary reagents, called GSX™. The process is relatively simple and, unlike alternative technologies, works as a continuous process with low heat and a mixture of used rubber and elastomers. “The big breakthrough in our technology is developing a reagent that can chemically ‘unzip’ the sulfur bonds without damaging the carbon to carbon bonds,” said Shahram Shafie, GSE’s Vice President of Research and Development.
To produce rubber products such as tires, the rubber must first be vulcanized by adding sulfur and then curing it with heat. In order to recycle and reuse the rubber, it must be devulcanized by breaking the sulfur to carbon bonds or cross links. Other devulcanization technologies are either not economic or result in significant polymer chain degradation, which limits the marketability of the recycled rubber, especially for higher performance products such as tires. “This technology is yet another example of how we can use GSX™ to improve the use of hydrocarbons while addressing economic and environmental needs of society,” concluded Lee.
About Green Source Energy LLC
Green Source Energy LLC, founded in 2007, is a privately held corporation that develops sustainable technologies to improve hydrocarbon extraction and use. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Austin, Texas, Manhattan, Kansas, and Washington D.C. Green Source Energy offers technologies based on a proprietary family of reagents for extracting various hydrocarbons, including from coal, oil sands, oil shale and in situ crude oil recovery. GSE’s technologies also have applications for rubber recycling and for upstream oil and gas additives. GSE’s vision is to revolutionize hydrocarbon recovery through technologies that address the world’s energy needs while drastically reducing the environmental impact of the recovery and use of natural resources.
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