AlgEternal Ramps Up Algae Production Using OriginClear’s Harvesting Technology
Longtime partner produces pure algae for agricultural and cosmetic applications
La Grange, TX and Los Angeles, CA – May 9, 2018 – OriginClear Inc. (OTC/QB: OCLN) and AlgEternal Technologies, a vertically-integrated producer of non-fuel high value products from microalgae, recently announced a formal licensing partnership, capping five years of continuous operation of OriginClear’s first-generation Smart Algae Harvester™ at AlgEternal’s LaGrange, Texas headquarters.
Following exhaustive testing, AlgEternal first selected OriginClear’s EWS technology in 2013. In 2015, AlgEternal found that by using OriginClear’s technology to harvest pure algae, conventional fertilizer costs could be reduced by up to 40 percent. More recently, in February 2018, a Texas A&M team studied the effectiveness of Agtivate™ in rice production, showing that yields could be increased by 500 to 900 lbs per acre, while reducing standard nitrogen up to 75%, when using Agtivate.
These test results demonstrated that OriginClear’s line of Smart Algae Harvesters is highly efficient, effectively controls bacteria in the algal paste product to facilitate a long shelf life, and, uniquely, ensures the algae cells are alive after harvesting.
“This harvester is critical to our production of soil conditioners and skin care products,” said David Ramjohn, CEO of AlgEternal Technologies. “We still use that first unit provided by OriginClear five years ago, which speaks volumes for its durability and efficiency. This licensing agreement allows AlgEternal to build units ourselves, reducing our capital costs, and increasing our processing and production capacity.”
AlgEternal deploys the Smart Algae Harvester in the production of its initial commercial products, Agtivate for soil enrichment and AlgAllure™ for natural skin care. The algae producer is completing an upgrade of its production facility in La Grange, and plans to reach a commercial production level equivalent to a 1,000-gallon daily harvest of high-value algae paste.
“The algae sector in which we began seems to be taking off after a long incubation,” said Jean-Louis “JL” Kindler, President of OriginClear Technologies. “We see this elevated interest as a clear indication that this market is beginning to mature and expand.”
While OriginClear has itself expanded into water treatment with its breakthrough patented technology, it has always maintained a presence in the field that produced this technology — algae biomass production. AlgEternal is one of the long-term users of OriginClear technology now ramping up OriginClear units.
More information is available on OriginClear’s technology site. Algae biomass producers interested in the Smart Algae Harvester should contact OriginClear.
“The Smart Algae Harvester delivers a significant competitive advantage to AlgEternal in the fledgling algae biotechnology industry,” continued Ramjohn. “Combining OriginClear’s technology with AlgEternal’s own patented Vertical Growth Modules™ for algae is as close to an algae production dream team as you can get.”
AlgEternal states that its target markets are soil amendment and organic skin care. Ramjohn continues: “We believe that Agtivate is an effective solution for increasing food production and reducing soil damage, objectives necessitated by global megatrends including the desertification, and the forecasted increase of global population to 9.6 billion by 2050.”
Prominent trends in the market, according to AlgEternal, also include the healthy consumer’s awareness and willingness to pay for non-toxic, natural cosmetics, that have beneficial effects. For example, AlgAllure contains a natural marine red algal extract said to be highly beneficial to human skin.
