PyroGenesis awarded $300,000 DOD contract

PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a Montreal-based company that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch products, announced it has been awarded a US $299,886 contract by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) as part of its ongoing project to destroy chemical warfare agents. This contract is to demonstrate the viability of using PyroGenesis' existing plasma chemical warfare agent destruction platform with locally available materials, for the complete eradication of chemical warfare agents without creating hazardous by-products. The contract is supported by the U.S. Army Research Office.

PyroGenesis developed a first of its kind tactical plasma arc chemical warfare agent destruction system for a multinational military consortium, which was developed to rapidly and safely destroy chemical warfare agents. "In developing this system, PyroGenesis expects to neutralize dangerous chemicals and chemical weapons without creating any hazardous by-products," says Pierre Carabin, director of engineering, PyroGenesis.

The contract announced today is related to a program initiated by the U.S. Defense to identify technology companies capable of developing a transportable disposal system which could convert dangerous chemical warfare agents into a safe end-product, such as soil, while using minimal consumables and creating no hazardous by-products.  Ultimately, the goal of the program is to develop a "one size fits all" technology to destroy any chemical warfare agents without requiring water or generating waste for post-processing.

"Recognizing both PyroGenesis' success with the U.S. Department of Defense, and its current advances with a multi-national military consortium in testing a first-of-its-kind Tactical Mobile Plasma System, PyroGenesis has been awarded this Contract to demonstrate how its current plasma process can be adapted to meet the program's specific objectives," says P. Peter Pascali, president and CEO of PyroGenesis. "A successfully developed system would safely destroy chemical warfare agent stockpiles onsite without having to transport these highly toxic chemicals to a remote location for processing."

"Being awarded this contract reflects the significant advances that we, at PyroGenesis, are achieving, and expect to continue to achieve, in the area of defense and chemical warfare agent destruction," Pascali adds.