COLUMBUS, OH — Potassium ferrate (VI), a powerful chemical oxidizer viewed as potentially highly useful as a disinfectant in water treatment, will soon be available in large “kilogram” quantities for commercial use, the Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) announced in an October 2 press release.

Battelle, the Columbus-based nonprofit research organization, said St. Louis, MO-based start-up company Ferratec, LLC and Ferratec’s partner, Electrosynthesis Co., Inc., licensed Battelle’s ferrate process technology, have completed pilot-scale trials with the chemical, and are ready to move into full-scale production.

The chemical, with the chemical symbol K₂FeO₄, was discovered 300 years ago. However, its use had always been limited “because it was impossible to obtain in large, stable quantities at a practical price,” the Battelle release said. Prior technologies had been able to produce only small quantities of about 35 percent purity.

Battelle says its new process, which brings together 50 years of collective research by the scientific community, produces potassium ferrate (VI) that is 95 percent pure, contains no chlorides or other halogen impurities, and is shelf-stable. The development is an outgrowth of an agreement Battelle and Ferratec signed in January 2008 to research the potential for the chemical’s mass production.

Ferratec principal partner Andy Wolter is quoted saying in the most recent release, “We’re eager to see broad adoption of Ferratec-brand ferrate in the marketplace.” In addition to its potential in the water treatment market or as a biocide, potassium ferrate (VI) is also useful as a powerful oxidizer in organic synthesis.

According to the Battelle release, “An additional attraction of ferrate is that it is environmentally friendly because its decomposition product is basically rust [oxides of iron].”

The release added, “Ferratec (a subsidiary of The Incubation Factory, a St. Louis investment firm and business incubator) expects to sell the product well below current market pricing.”

Electrosynthesis, based in the Buffalo, NY, suburb of Lancaster, is an established research and development company specializing in electrochemical technology. Working with its commercialization and scale-up operations is its engineering partner, NORAM Engineering and Constructors, Ltd., based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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