N-Viro International Corporation

N-Viro International Corporation (Symbol: NVIC) utilizes patented technologies to stabilize and disinfect municipal bio solids and other organic waste products. These technologies safely and efficiently transform waste streams into beneficial reuse products.

The N-Viro technologies involve the mixing of municipal bio solids with specific alkaline waste products from the coal combustion electric generation, cement and lime industries. This process stabilizes organic waste thru pasteurization and complete disinfection.

Historically, N-Viro has operated an N-Viro Soil processing facility under contract with the City of Toledo. Our technology has been licensed through-out the United States and internationally with overwhelming success. Recently N-Viro acquired the Volusia County facility located in Daytona, Florida. Our Florida N-Viro facility processes municipal bio solids into N-Viro Soil from many municipalities in the central Florida area.

Our suite of green technologies complement each other and build upon a unique concept transforming waste products into a beneficial fertilizer or ultimately creating N-Viro Fuel a renewable alternative fuel perfectly synergistic with the coal combustion industry.

The N-Viro Fuel technology was recently tested on a full-scale basis at the Michigan State University coal-fired power plant. Two different fuels, one made from biosolids and the other from manure, were blended with eastern Ohio coal and burned in the power plant’s fluidized bed boiler. The blended fuels performed well compared to coal alone; air emissions were below regulatory limits, and the boiler performed normally.

The company and management expect to develop the N-Viro Fuel technology with other power facilities within the United States and anticipates international acceptance for the N-Viro Fuel technology.

About Us

N-Viro International Corporation develops and licenses its technology to municipalities and private companies. Their patented processes use lime and/or mineral-rich, combustion byproducts to treat, pasteurize, immobilize and convert wastewater sludge and other bio-organic wastes into biomineral agricultural and soil-enrichment products with real market value. The company has generated sales in excess of $40 million dollars, since its initial public offering in October of 1993, which was underwritten by Robertson Stephens, Raymond James, Oppenheimer & Co., and Paine Webber.

What are biosolids?

Biosolids, also known as sewage sludge, are the residual solids left over after the treatment of municipal wastewater. They include organic matter and inorganic compounds from the sewage itself and those produced in the treatment process. Biosolids can be in either liquid or solid form, depending on the treatment process.

Are biosolids valuable and why?

Definitely yes! Biosolids contain valuable organic matter, plant nutrients and biological activity. In raw form biosolids have been used to supplement commercial fertilizers by the farming industry for decades. Today, we treat biosolids further to remove harmful pathogens. By safely returning the nutrients that were taken up by plants to the land, biosolids complete the organic recycling circle. Agriculture benefits from the return of these valuable nutrients and organics.

What are mineral by-products?

Mineral by-products consist of kiln dusts from the cement and lime industries, fly ash, wood ash and fluidized bed ash from the electric power generating industry, and dry flue gas de-sulfurization material collected in air pollution prevention systems from industry. These materials are commonly waste materials that are destined for a landfill. N-Viro uses them in their process to treat biosolids.

What about mineral by-products are valuable?

These materials contain different minerals that are valuable in agriculture and help to maintain plant health. The most valuable material in most of these by-products is free lime. Lime is used to separate most ashes, dusts, and other materials from the air stream. Manganese, Boron, Nitrogen, Potassium and other trace nutrients are removed using lime in the scrubbing process. Plants require these trace nutrients for proper growth and development. The N-Viro process uses the residual free lime to react with the water in the biosolids creating heat through an exothermal reaction. It is the heat generated from this reaction that aids in the disinfection of biosolids. By using these materials to treat biosolids, N-Viro can offer a more valuable product than traditional biosolids alone.

Is it safe to use a material like NVS that has a pH of 12?

Yes, NVS is mostly calcium carbonate, the same chemical in agricultural limestone, chalk, antacids and calcareous soil. The small amount of calcium hydroxide in NVS gives it a high pH, but calcium hydroxide is rapidly neutralized when it is added to soil, and the overall reaction is that of calcium carbonate.

Is NVS still a waste material?

No! NVS is made from biosolids, but it can no longer be seen as a waste material. You could not take the mineral by-products away and find the biosolids. There is a complete conversion of feedstock's similar to what can be found in the refining of crude oil into a useful product - gasoline, or recycled paper that is used to make new paper products, biosolids are transformed in the N-Viro process into a safe, useful product.

Are biosolids safe for beneficial reuse?

Again, definitely yes! Properly treated biosolids such as compost, pellets and N-Viro Soil™ are free of pathogens and are often times safer than the dirt in your front yard. The N-Viro process eliminates all pathogenic bacteria, enteric viruses, and helminth ova. The process classifies as a US EPA Class A material and meets guidelines 2000 times more stringent than traditional Class B disinfection. Beneficial bacterial is maintained in the process to help provide long term protection to re-inoculation by pathogens.

How is the N-Viro process regulated under federal regulations?

The USEPA approved the N-Viro process to treat wastewater biosolids in the late 1980s as a process that is equivalent to a PFRP process (Process to Further Reduce Pathogens). Based on the extensive test data needed to gain approval as an equivalent PFRP, the N-Viro process, as submitted to the Pathogen Equivalency Committee (PEC), reduces pathogens below detectable levels -- all pathogens are eliminated. This approval was carried over in 1993, when the Sludge Regulations (Part 503) were promulgated, and is classified as Class A Pathogen Disinfection Alternative #6: Use of a Process Equivalent to PFRP.

How is the N-Viro process different from compost?

Compost is the result of a biological reaction between biosolids, wood chips and other materials to provide a stable, disinfected product. The reaction requires a delicate balance between all feedstock's needing a trained expert and constant monitoring to maintain that balance.

The N-Viro process, on the other hand, is a combination of biological, chemical and physical reactions used to disinfect biosolids. By combining all three reactions, you have many different modes of pathogen kill for added security and stability.

Do all biosolids have an odor?

Untreated biosolids have an odor. Different treatment processes deal with odors differently, but often odors persist. The odors are subjective and each individual person has their own opinion. The N-Viro process deals with odors on many levels. First, the high surface area of the mineral by-products immediately absorbs odor. By further drying the product odors are not generated. The remaining micro flora prevent odors by inhibiting putrefying organisms from inoculating the end product. During the treatment process mild amounts of gaseous ammonia is released from the biosolids, and is one of the five modes of disinfection. It is this temporary, mild ammonia smell that is associated with the N-Viro process.

What about industrial waste and the problems that it poses to biosolids?

One of the greatest successes of the Clean Water Act has been the implementation of industrial pre-treatment. Industries are required to control the amount of chemical compounds that they release to the municipal water treatment plant. Because of the great successes of these programs, industrial waste is not a prominent concern of biosolids treatment.

What about metals concentrations found in biosolids?

Many materials including soil, biosolids, manures and fertilizers contain varying concentrations of most chemical elements. All heavy metals are natural, they are not man-made. Many of the heavy metals like copper, zinc, selenium and molybdenum are essential elements and are often taken by livestock and humans as mineral supplements. Metals in biosolids are regulated. All NVS products meet the most stringent classification for heavy metals in the USEPA biosolids regulations (Part 503), the so-called "Exceptional Quality" (EQ) concentration limits for 10 heavy metals. Because of this, NVS products can be used safely without concern for heavy metal toxicity.

Who uses N-Viro Soil™?

Many markets are using N-Viro Soil™ all across the country and around the world today. The primary market for N-Viro Soil™ is agriculture. The American farmers use more N-Viro Soil™ annually than all other lime treated biosolids-derived products combined. N-Viro Soil is also used in landscaping and horticulture, land reclamation, landfill cover material, silviculture, topsoil blending, and as a soil amendment. N-Viro is often blended with materials and bagged for use in home gardens.

Is NVS going to cause water pollution from heavy metals?

Absolutely not! The N-Viro process uses the high pH of the process to effectively bind with heavy metals, forming metal hydroxides that are insoluble. Even if the pH were to drop below neutral, the metal hydroxides will not leach into groundwater or runoff into surface waters. N-Viro's stringent Quality Assurance/ Quality Control (QA/QC), guarantees the safety of the N-Viro product. The QA/QC program allowed N-Viro to secure a $5 million product liability insurance policy that covers generators, municipalities, appliers and blenders. N-Viro is the only biosolids treatment process to carry liability insurance.

What makes the N-Viro process more cost effective than other options?

The N-Viro process can utilize many waste streams in the production of a valuable product. Yard waste, leaves, alum sludge, spent lime, pulp and paper waste and food waste can all be used in the N-Viro process. By combining all these waste streams, there are considerable savings over the disposal of these materials. The cost of production declines as you include other waste streams. The economies of scale involved in the N-Viro process make it the most cost effective option for community based solutions.

http://www.nviro.com/






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