Research, Industry Collaborate to Develop 'Green’ Technology

A new company in Stuttgart uses a process proven by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture to turn a rice industry waste product into a profitable raw material for manufacturing.

Dr. Andy Proctor, UA professor of food science, collaborated with Producers Rice Mill of Stuttgart to develop the technology used by Agritecsorbents, L.L.C., to turn rice hull ash, a byproduct of rice processing, into carbon and sodium silicate. Carbon is used as an industrial absorbent in filtration systems, Proctor said. Sodium silicate is a starting material for silica-based products, such as the silica gel packs used to keep packages dry.

The Stuttgart plant is in production and the company received the first purchase orders for its products this month, said Jim McDaniel, vice president and general manager of Agritecsorbents. The company is a joint venture of Producers Rice Mill and the Texas technology company Agritech Systems of Houston.

Proctor developed a technique that uses sodium hydroxide to extract the silica, in liquid sodium silicate form, and leave the carbon.

“Turning rice hull ash into these two products eliminates waste removal from rice hull combustion and becomes a 'green’ source of valuable raw products,” he said.

At full capacity, Agritecsorbents will produce about 8 million pounds of carbon per year and about 28 million pounds of silica per year, McDaniel said. The U.S. markets use 135 million pounds of carbon and about 2 billion pounds of silica annually. To read the full release, please go to http://www.uark.edu/depts/agripub/Publications/Agnews/agnews05-30.html