OXYGEN GENERATION UTILIZING NON-CRYOGENIC PROCESSES

AQUANAUTICS CORPORATION IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING FOR THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) A PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING PURE OXYGEN FROM SEAWATER. THIS TECHNOLOGY COULD BE ADAPTED FOR NAVAL SURFACE VESSEL OXYGEN-FROM-AIR EXTRACTION. THIS TECHNOLOGY USES SPECIALLY DESIGNED WATER-SOLUBLE OXYGEN-BINDING MOLECULES AND A MEMBRANE SYSTEM TO EXTRACT FREE MOLECULAR OXYGEN SELECTIVELY FROM THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, EITHER A GAS OR LIQUID. THE OXYGENATED CARRIER FLUID THEN FLOWS TO AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL WHERE ITS OXIDATION STATE IS ALTERED, CAUSING THE OXYGEN TO BE RELEASED AS A GAS. THE CARRIER FLUID'S OXYGEN AFFINITY IS THEN RECIRCULATED TO REPEAT THE CYCLE. AQUANAUTICS' RESEARCH TEAM OF FIVE PH.D. SCIENTISTS IS COMPRISED OF ELECTROCHEMISTS, PHYSICAL AND ORGANIC CHEMISTS AND BIOCHEMISTS. IT IS SUPPLEMENTED VIA RESEARCH RELATIONSHIPS WITH DUKE UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS, WHOSE CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT PROVIDES DESIGN AND SYNTHESIZING CAPABILITY FOR NEW OXYGEN-BINDING COMPOUNDS. THE AQUANAUTICS' PROCESS POTENTIALLY HAS MANY ADVANTAGES OVER CRYOGENIC AND MOLECULAR SIEVE TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING HIGH PURITY (99.5%), LOWER MANUFACTURING AND MAINTENANCE COST, LOWER ENERGY CONSUMPTION, RESISTANCE TO CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION AND THE CAPABILITY TO PRODUCE A PURE NITROGEN BY-PRODUCT. AQUANAUTICS IS A WELL-FUNDED, PUBLICLY-HELD CORPORATION WHICH HAS PRIOR SBIR EXPERIENCE.