OpenCEL technology provides significant process improvement in anaerobic digestion. By pre-treating the Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) going into the digester, biosolids output for dewatering and disposal is reduced, and biogas production is increased.

For plants depending on the purchase of an external carbon source to drive denitrification, OpenCEL can slash costs. OpenCEL treated Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) can be used in place of methanol, glycerin products, acetate, or other commercially available carbon source. 

About half the contents of the bacteria in WAS is carbon, but is not naturally available because it is trapped within the bacteria’s tough cell walls. Professor John Novak of Virginia Tech likened the bacterial cell wall to a turtle’s shell.  OpenCEL uses a Focused Pulse electrical field to “electroporate” the cell wall (fill it full of irreversible pores, or holes).  Then through osmosis, the cell contents become “bio-available” and the cellular carbon is liberated. Utilizing cellular carbon, plants can satisfy most, if not all, of their supplemental carbon needs by using their own material, at staggering economic advantage.