Below is a link to a recent interview I did with Texas Business Radio where I discuss the past, present, and future of Altiras businesses.
Texas Business Radio Interview
Tag: Altiras Holdings LLC
Altiras’ Innovative Method of Extracting Fuel Oil from Acid Tar
As the president of Altiras Holdings, LLC, Todd Pencarinha guides a wholly owned subsidiary, Altiras Recovery, that has a mission of creating marketable materials from large volume chemical and fuel coproducts that might otherwise be wastes. In 2014, Todd Pencarinha’s firm announced the development of in-house systems and equipment for the extraction of derived fuel oil from Acid Tar streams.
Before the company could produce any products from the material, it had to resolve some major, technical operational problems. As Mr. Pencarinha described it, companies that had attempted to reuse the material over the past three decades had all failed. Specifically, Pencarinha stated that the primary reasons for the prior competitor failures had to do with a lack of understanding of the fundamental characteristics of the material. At the onset of the project, Altiras Recovery experience several major equipment failures within days of starting. Hardened steel parts were failing in as little as 2 days of use. The difference for Altiras Recovery, according to Pencarinha, was that its engineers looked closely at the way the material was originally produced, assesses the specific chemical make-up of the material, and evaluated various reaction mechanisms and pathways that could lead to the failures observed. Once the fundamental chemistry and mechanisms were understood, the solutions were evident.
A second problem Altiras had to solve was odor. Whenever handled, the material produced extremely pungent odors that could be noticed from significant distances and could also pose health concerns for employees. Again, according to Mr. Pencarinha, the solution was found by understanding the fundamental chemistry and then selecting methods and equipment to solve the problem.
The final challenge was to put high asphaltene content, solid material back into a liquid form. Altiras developed two distinct processes for producing fuel oil from the material, while neutralizing the acidity of the Acid Tar. Pencarinha indicated the processes developed for this project were directly applicable to similar Acid Tar projects elsewhere in the world.
Altiras Recovery’s success in creating innovative reuse processes was characterized as reflecting a core commitment to developing technological solutions for beneficial use and waste minimization.
Todd Pencarinha 