| Why Greenfloc and Greenphos products are green? |
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| 1. Raw materials |
Greenfloc flocculants and Greenphos scale inhibitors are produced by chemical
modification of starch. In Europe and America starch is extracted from the seeds of
maize and wheat, or the bulb of potato, but its source is rice in China and tapioca in
other areas. Grains are farmed in vast amounts for human consumption, while this
industrial use only accounts for a fraction of production. Whenever surpluses are
produced, starch can make an easy-to-store stockpile, unlike raw potato.
Starch is produced by grinding followed by steeping, its composition remaining
identical to what it was in the plant, consumed by humans on a daily basis. |
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| 2. Production |
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During the chemical modification, starch is mixed with a small amount of reagent
material authorised for use in the food processing industry, then it is treated in a
process similar to baking at a relatively low temperature. This treatment results in the
flocculant and scale inhibitor products of a composition similar to those of pudding
powder. |
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Put in a more professional way: starch bio-polymer chains found in plants are broken
up by heat treatment to the desired level, while some phosphate groups are added to
the polymer. Depending on the level of break-up of bio-polymer chains and the
number of phosphate groups the process results either flocculants or scale inhibitors.
In case of an adequately planned production technology there is hardly any
contamination is emitted. |
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| 3. Properties |
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Non-toxic |
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Thanks to the natural raw material and the production technology, Greenfloc
flocculants and Greenphos scale inhibitors are non-toxic – as certified by tests
conducted by food industry authorities. |
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Biodegradable |
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Starch as a natural organic bio-polymer is biodegradable under environmental
conditions such as humidity, air, sunlight or heat, decomposing into sugar (glucose),
that further decomposes into carbon-dioxide and water. Greenfloc and Greenphos
products are biodegradable in a similar way as above 99% of their dry material
content is starch. |
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| 4. Application |
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| Flocculants |
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Greenfloc flocculants are recommended for use in drinking water treatment
technologies and biotechnologies, where their non toxic character plays an important
role. |
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Flocculants are generally used for the removal of suspended solid particles from
water. Solved materials need to be precipitated before the application of flocculants
for removal. In technologies and equipments designed for the removal of suspended
solid particles (clarification, flocculation, sedimentation, flotation, filtration) the
flocculants connect to solid particles and exit with the sludge. |
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The above technologies already use flocculants, but these are synthetic polymers
produced from oil or natural gas. Synthetic flocculants can be toxic (especially acrylamide
derivatives, while those derived from allyl-amine and ethylene-oxide are less
so), and they are non-degradable, or degrade into toxic wastes. This is why starch
based flocculants make a perfect substitute for these synthetic products with a similar
dosage of 0.2-1.0 ppm. |
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With the use of Greenfloc flocculants no toxic or contaminating material is added to
drinking water or biotechnological liquid phase. Although less important, it can be
advantageous in the case of waste water treatment too. |
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Greenfloc flocculants remaining in the sludge degrade in 1-2 weeks producing 99%
water and carbon-dioxide. It does not however contribute to the green house effect
as the amount of carbon-dioxide produced during the degradation of starch is equal
to the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by the plant (which is the source of the
starch) during its growth. |
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Greenfloc products contain a small amount (approximately 1%) of phosphorus.
Phosphorus input in the case of drinking water production is 1-5 ppb, but less than
5% of that gets into the clean water (it is under the measuring limit value).
Scale inhibitors. |
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Greenphos scale inhibitors are also recommended for applications where its non
toxic character is beneficial. One such use is the treatment of thermal waters of high
salt content. Scale inhibitors impede the sedimentation and the corrosion of
containers and feed-lines without harming the health of bathers. The use of
Greenphos scale inhibitor may be significant in the case of thermal heating systems,
where cooled thermal water is fed back to its original location underground. As the
scale inhibitor is biodegradable, no contamination is entering the underground
thermal water zone. |
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United States product certification and process pending. |
