Oxygen has been shown to be the limiting factor for microbes capable of aerobically degrading contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbons. Without adequate oxygen, contaminant degradation will either cease or may proceed by much slower anaerobic (oxygen-free) processes.

When hydrated, ORC Advanced is designed to release its full amount of oxygen (17% by weight) over a 12 month period. Upon injection into the subsurface, ORC Advanced utilizes its patented Controlled Release Technology (CRT™) to deliver its oxygen consistently over an extended period of time, avoiding excessive foaming and oxygen loss seen with commodity chemicals. This enables aerobic microbes to significantly accelerate rates of natural attenuation over long periods of time. ORC Advanced saves time and money by increasing degradation rates and improving remediation performance by providing more oxygen on a single injection. It is particularly effective at higher demand sites where oxygen may be limited and scavenged by competing carbon sources.

Remediation with ORC Advanced is typically more cost-effective than ex-situ treatments. With the use of ORC Advanced there is minimal site disturbance with no above-ground piping or mechanical equipment, no operations and maintenance costs and no hazardous materials handling or disposal.

Based on the same proven technology employed in the industry standard Oxygen Release Compound (ORC®), CRT allows for an efficient, long-term release of oxygen providing the optimal conditions for sustained aerobic biodegradation. This can save time and money by reducing the potential need for multiple applications. Also, oxygen release "lock-up" is avoided - an unfortunate problem experienced with commodity chemicals.

Early on, Regenesis researchers noted that in order to optimally stimulate the natural attenuation of aerobically degradable contaminants, biologically usable oxygen was best supplied in low but constant concentrations. Big bursts of oxygen are wasteful and simply "bubble off," often generating undesirable foaming and producing unwanted preferential flow paths in the subsurface. Regenesis sought to solve this problem by controlling the rate of oxygen release from solid oxygen sources.

The answer was provided by the development of CRT. The CRT process involves intercalating (embedding) phosphates into the crystal structure of solid peroxygen molecules. This patented feature, now available in the ORC Advanced™ formulation, slows the reaction that yields oxygen within the crystal, minimizing "bubble off" which can waste the majority of oxygen available in common solid peroxygen chemicals.

CRT™ provides "balance" - it slows down the rate of oxygen release while at the same time preventing "lock-up". Commodity solid peroxygen chemicals, when in contact with water, will produce an initial rapid and uncontrolled release of oxygen. Then, as hydroxides form, a significant portion of the oxygen deeper in the crystal is made unavailable or becomes "locked up." This undesirable effect is ineffiecient and costly. CRT prevents lock up and controls the rate of oxygen release, representing the state-of-the-art technology in passive oxygen delivery.

Uniformly embedded within the crystalline structure of the peroxygen are phosphate ions. These ions do two important things:

1. they slow the rate of hydration that liberates oxygen thereby creating the CRT effect and

2. they form exit pathways for the oxygen in an otherwise tightly packed crystal that can become even more "locked-up" when hydroxides begin to form as a reaction by-product following oxygen liberation.

This patented process optimizes peroxygen performance and is only available in the Regenesis line of products.