Is There Really Such a Thing as Clean Coal? Yes, Thanks to the Invention of X-MAT®
ORLANDO, Fla., — The environmental and human health issues resulting from burning coal are well known. Enormous amounts of time and money have been spent to create “clean coal” focusing primarily on methods to mitigate the damaging emissions from burning coal for energy production. Those methods have either not worked or been too cost prohibitive to use on a broad scale.
A breakthrough innovation by Semplastics’ X-MAT® advanced materials division offers a way to use coal cost effectively for an unprecedented array of applications while eliminating the negative environmental impacts.
X-MAT® is a patent pending composite using core components of coal. X-MAT® combines coal and other materials resulting in a unique advanced material that enables the use of coal in energy, transportation, medical, aerospace, and other industries for applications which require low weight, low cost, high performance materials.
The viability of coal-based X-MAT® has initially been proven in the oil and gas industry. Semplastics received initial funding from Norwegian-based energy company Statoil and General Electric to develop an environmentally friendly, low cost advanced material to be used as a proppant to replace sand in the hydraulic fracking process.
“By using our proprietary X-MAT® process that enables us to create custom materials, we developed a unique, advanced composite using coal components,” explained Bill Easter, Semplastics CEO. “Our coal-based X-MAT® was showcased at the recent World Petroleum Council Meeting in Brazil and featured in the “Journey of the Drop” documentary,” said Easter. “It truly offers a breakthrough in efforts to continue to use coal and eliminate the hazardous environmental and human health impacts. This innovation can change both the current perception and reality of the coal industry.”
Semplastics is a graduate of the UCF Business Incubation Program at Central Florida Research Park in east Orange County. Their advanced materials division – X-MAT®– operates out of a laboratory in the Incubator.
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For more information contact:
Bill Easter, Chief Executive Officer, Semplastics, Inc. wgeaster@semplastics.com or 407-353-6885 www.semplastics.com
Carol Ann Dykes, Site Manager, UCF Business Incubation Program, 407-207-7426 carolann.dykes@ucf.edu
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications Inc. 407-644-4142 Lvershelco@aol.com
About Semplastics, Inc.
Semplastics is a supplier of ultra-precision plastic components for the semiconductor industry. By focusing primarily on plastic components, Semplastics is able to produce superior plastic parts in terms of mechanical tolerances and metallic contamination. Semplastics is a data driven company that strives to produce quantifiable information regarding the benefits of its ultra-precision plastic components. The X-MAT® division of Semplastics is involved in research and development of revolutionary materials and composites. For more information, please visit www.semplastics.com.
About the UCF Business Incubation Program
The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth / impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has helped hundreds of local startup companies reach their potential faster by providing vital business development resources.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Apopka, Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. Participating companies sustain more than 3,600 local jobs and have had a total impact of $1.51B on regional sales and $2.48B on regional economic output. During the last fiscal year, the program has returned $7.95 for every $1.00 invested in the program. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu
