looking out from a coated pipe is steve petrone, founder and president of Quantiam technologies, which uses nano technology to develop furnace coatings that reduce energy use by large chemical companies.

Photograph by: Brian Gavriloff, The Journal, Edmonton Journal

Steve Petrone works with particles less than a thousandth of a millimetre in diameter to make giant petrochemical furnaces more efficient.

The revolutionary nanotechnology-based coatings created at Quantiam Technologies can significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs at plants producing olefins--the largest group of worldwide petrochemicals.

And the bonus is that this also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

After eight years and $17 million taking it from the lab through pilot projects at plants such as Nova Chemicals' Joffre operation, Quantiam is ready to build a$9.2-million, 35,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Edmonton.

"Now we are ready to make the big jump from a 15-employee company to providing a significant number of high-value jobs in Edmonton. And we expect to double capacity in two years," Petrone says.

The olefin industry, which produces such things as plastics, antifreeze and lubricants, is by far the biggest industrial energy user, Petrone says.

"It takes three billion gigajoules of energy to produce 1.25 million tonnes of olefins a year, and each tonne of olefins produces a tonne of CO2.

"And the technology of managing it hasn't changed in 60 years until now. We are in a class of our own in the world."

His coatings allow the furnaces to work at a 50-degree-lower temperature, which is a huge saving.

The amount of carbon created in the process is also drastically cut, meaning fewer greenhouse gases are emitted, Petrone says.

Wear and corrosion is reduced to the point where maintenance shutdowns at olefin plants need occur only every two years instead of every month. And when plants lose $100,000 to $500,000 a day during shutdowns, depending on their size, that's also a big deal.

Petrone sees the wear and corrosion properties being attractive to the oilsands industry, with its high production maintenance costs.

Quantiam last week received a National Research Council award for technical innovation, but Petrone says getting to the large-scale manufacturing stage after so many years in the lab and pilot projects is the really exciting part.

Now the technology is proven, the cost of actually coating the inside of pipes is quite cheap, he says.

They charge customers between $3 and $10 a square inch, so it doesn't take a lot of material to produce a million-dollar order.

Quantiam has also found a way to blend the bendability of steel with the wear and impact resistance of ceramics to produce a material previously considered an impossibility, Petrone says.

"We did it with our nano-enabling process and we're unique in the world in that."

Quantiam's technologies have also attracted the attention of the U. S. Department of Defence.

Petrone can't say too much, other than extreme heat situations and armour protection are areas of particular interest.

Despite the industry and government interest, Petrone has not been able to get financing from Western Canada for the new plant. It has come from Eastern Canada, Europe and the U. S.

He has received research and development funding from Ottawa and Alberta, as well as Nova Chemicals.

And he could always use more financing going forward, he says.

dfinlayson@thejournal.canwest.com