OPC has an exclusive license to use a proprietary patented technology which will allow the Corporation to produce 99%+ pure Potassium Carbonate. The purity of OPC’s Potassium Carbonate is an industry first and is a highly desired, highly demanded product that is used in numerous consumable and disposable products in multiple industries.
Takoradi and its twin city Sekondi, is where OPC is in the preliminary stages of building its potassium carbonate processing plant. OPC has already begun and is currently in the advanced stages of developing its organic waste supply chain. Cocoa Husks will be the primary organic waste material which will be used to produce Potassium Carbonate at the Takoradi-Sedkondi processing plant.
Why Takoradi-Sekondi, Ghana?
On February 22nd, 2012, OPC announced that it had secured an 99 year lease agreement for lands to be used to build the Corporations processing plant. The City offers OPC many competitive advantages, not only is it Ghana's fourth largest city with a combined population of just under 450,000 inhabitants, Takoradi-Sekondi is also an vibrant industrial and commercial center with the chief industries being cocoa, oil, timber, plywood, shipbuilding, and railroad repair. What this means to OPC is that all vital infrastructure is already in place including, roads, hydro, railway lines and having this infrastructure in place will greatly assist in reducing the time needed to construct OPC’s processing plant. To add, the City is also home to the Takoradi Harbour which is the second of Ghana’s only two ports. Having the Takoradi Port and surrounding vital infrastructure in place will also make it very easy for OPC to export and sell the Corporation’s Potassium Carbonate to the global markets.
Numerous global corporations currently operate in Ghana, and have done so for many years , because Ghana is in fact very “pro business.” Some of the advantages of OPC having its processing plant located in Ghana include:
Ghana is also one of the largest producers of coca husks, which is the primary ingredient / source material used to make OPC’s Potassium Carbonate. Takoradi-Sekondi itself is surrounded by hundreds of farms that produce coca husk waste, this will allow OPC to have an unlimited yearly supply of organic source material.
Current Stage of OPC’s Organic Waste Supply Chain
OPC has already begun establishing its logistics and agricultural waste supplier network with the cocoa farmers of Ghana. Currently OPC has established two supplier “start-up zones” which contain an inventory of over 45,000 metric tons of husk. To date, the Corporation has also manufactured 115 portable ashing units which are being placed onsite in the “star-up zones” to convert the cocoa husks into ash.. Additional units are being added weekly , in the two “start-up zones.” Robert Ellis COO of OPC’s Ghana operations and Keith Welner, VP of Logistics, are currently expanding the Corporation’s supplier chain network in Ghana.
To increase and streamline the OPC’s production capabilities, the Corporation has developed “K2” which is a mini processing unit. K2 is capable of processing ash from organic waste into 99%+ pure potassium carbonate onsite. K2 is currently being used as a production model to best determine the most efficient processing method which will then be implemented into the full scale production line at the Takoradi-Sedkondi processing plant. In March of 2012, OPC had announced that K2 had successfully completed its trial run and produced its very first batch of potassium carbonate. The potassium carbonate has been sent to the ISO Certified Food Research Institute (FRI) for chemical, biological and physical analysis to confirm its purity.
Current Stage of OPC’s Takoradi-Sekondi Plant, Future Plans and Dr. Martin Wood
OPC has secured an 99 year lease agreement. The plant itself, will have the capability to produce potassium carbonate directly from raw organic waste or by the ash that is supplied from the portable ashing units. OPC has retained both Food Research Institute and SGS the industry leader in verification and testing services (www.sgs.com) to provide written analysis of the process and verification of the chemical composition of the end product that is produced at the plant.
The production goal of OPC is to have the factory built, with one production line in operation, after which it is expected to add a secondary processing line funded by internal cash flows. The proprietary patented technology which OPC has exclusive license to use, was developed by Dr. Martin Wood who is the President of GC Technologies which holds the patents. .Dr. Woode is a published expert and lecturer in the field of chemical engineering, who has over 20 years’ experience in advanced chemical technology development.
On October 18th, 2011 OPC announced that. Dr. Woode had entered into a contract with OPC to provide consulting services and will personally be overlooking and managing the critical phase of the technology implementation at the Takoradi processing plant.
Production Process Schematic
Why Potassium Carbonate?
Potassium Carbonate is in constant demand around the globe, has a high profit margin as 99.2% purity is currently selling for $1,200 - $1,500 per metric tonne, granular. Potassium Carbonate is used for a multitude of applications in variety of markets some examples are as follows;
Fuels
Used for the removal of carbon dioxide and other acid gases by absorption in a solution of potassium carbonate with the following materials:
Natural gas, Synthesis, Hydrogen, Synthetic natural gas, Petrochemical products, Dry ice, Chemicals from hydro carbon gases, Molten carbonates for removal of sulfur dioxide from flue gases.
Cleaners
Potassium Carbonate is used as an active ingredients in the following cleaning materials:
Bleaching, Boiler compounds, Liquid soaps, Metal cleaners.
Glass
Potassium Carbonate is found in the following glass products:
Source of K20 for alkali barium, lead or strontium silica, Glasses used in the production of television tubes, Illuminating ware, Tubing, Laboratory glass, Optical glass, Tableware.
Dyes | Pigments
Potassium Carbonate is used to manufacture the following products:
Inks, Dry Colors, Dyeing Textiles, Printing Fabrics.
Other Applications
Potassium Carbonate is also found in the following products and used in the following applications:
Tanning leather, Perfume and toiletries, Fire extinguishers, Photography films, Flame proofing, Electroplating, Molten salts, Fireproof coolant "anti-freeze" for exposed steel columns, Rubber additives.