MazerRR wrote: The stock has done well in the last few weeks, because people see a bright future for a green high-technology company with many plasma applications. The potential for Pyrogenesis to replace burners with their proprietary torches in the Iron Ore Pelletization industry (among others) is huge, and Pyrogenesis are firing on all cylinders to make it a reality. This has resulted in a lot of new eyes, but unfortunately also brings troublemakers with it.
Those who are trying to cause disruption, commenting on price swings or spamming nonsense comments that flood the board, are trying to play on fear. Perhaps they're shorting, or they just want to see the price drop so they can pick up more shares. These are flippers/swing traders and not long-term investors. For those who are interested in clearing out the spam and discussing what the company is working on these days, I put together some details below:
Pyro has a lot in irons in the fire, in terms of Plasma technology applications:
-
High-powered torches (~1MW+ Torches) These are a relatively new offering (Pyrogenesis produced < 550 kW torches previously), only introduced by the company in 2019 with the RISE contract (read through the first RISE contract NR dated 03/2019:
https://www.pyrogenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PyroGenesis-Announces-Winning-Tender-for-900-kW-Plasma-Torch-System-Sale.pdf). Their torches are now causing a flurry of interest within those companies in heavy industry (Iron Ore pelletization/Mining & Metallurgy(incl. Steel)/Cement) who are looking to replace industrial burners, particularly in the Iron Pelletization industry where plasma torch competitors would need to obtain a license from Pyrogenesis, as their patent has pretty much prevented anyone from using torches in induration furnaces
. Key to all this interest are the
GHG and pollution reduction requirements/targets coming from both internal and external sources, driving pressure on Industrial players to seek alternatives to their dirty burners. Pyrogenesis’ proprietary torches are a
commercially ready answer which, according to Pyro’s many news releases on the Iron Pelletization torch modeling (i) had absolutely no ancillary detrimental effects anywhere in the process or with their furnaces, (ii) resulted in significant greenhouse gas reduction while at the same time, (iii) projecting significant additional benefits.
-DROSRITETM: DROSRITE
TM is a proprietary, salt-free, cost-effective technology for maximizing metal recovery from Smelting waste called ‘Dross’. This applies to dross from the smelting of Aluminum, Zinc and Copper, according to their website. Pyrogenesis signed a ~$55M value deal with Drosrite International for Aluminum dross processing work in Saudi, using its DROSRITE
TM equipment. It appears that the tolling side of the DROSRITE
TM business is one Pyro intends to focus on in the future; this arrangement is a
recurring revenue stream model (and the annual market for tolling dross is potentially over $1B for Aluminum/Zinc/Copper, which DROSRITE
TM has only recently broken into). I can also see Pyrogenesis attempting to cross-sell their high-powered torches to Clients in these industries along with DROSRITE
TM.
-
PAWDS: Traditionally the bread and butter of the company, the PAWDS (Plasma Arc Waste Disposal System) is being used onboard ships and on land, and has been vetted by the US Navy, NATO and DARPA, and others, organizations with very high standards. Pyro have mentioned in NRs that they are expecting a contract with the US Navy for 2 units to be installed on 2 new US Aircraft carriers.
-
Waste Management: There are a lot of processes to name here (other than the PAWDS that is already mentioned). It’s hard to tell what kind of projects Pyro will get in the future; to see the Waste Management technologies they’ve offered so far, check out their website:
https://www.pyrogenesis.com/products-services/waste-management/ -
Additive Manufacturing (3D) powder: Pyrogenesis invented the Plasma Atomization process, which produces highly spherical and excellent quality metal powders tailored for Additive Manufacuring (AM) and Metal Injection Molding (MIM) in high-end markets like Aerospace, Biomedical, etc. They have recently improved this older technology to the tune of a 25kg/h production rate, as seen in their
NexGen Plasma Automization System introduced in 2019. Pyrogenesis has stated they expect the lower Ti costs
will open adoption of their Ti powders into new markets and applications. I have been looking into this and found a very informative article, regarding the uses of Ti powders in AM:
https://amfg.ai/2019/06/18/titanium-3d-printing-guide/.
Scroll through the article and you’ll find a nice surprise in there!. Recently, the NexGen Plasma Automization System’s QMS has recently been approved by a major aerospace OEM. As management has mentioned, a spin-off is also in the cards for this division.
-
TUNNELING: This is an interesting project and one which could become quite big if the plasma torch equipped tunneling design pans out, assuming (this is speculation) the company they are working with is ArcByt, as some on this board have suggested. Given that Pyrogenesis has stated they do not take on projects that they believe have very little chance of success, it is reasonable to assume they have done a thorough review on the project and determined it to be feasible. Regardless of which client they are working with on this Tunneling project, Pyrogenesis’ expertise will be critical in the design and engineering stages. This project is likely still in its early development phase.
-
PUREVAPTM: Even though PUREVAP
TM is currently a project being run for HPQ, I believe this ‘division’ is potentially the most promising of them all. What Pyrogenesis has developed for HPQ is a process for turning cheap, low quality Quartz into many grades and types of silicon metal end products, including: Silicon at Metallurgical grade (1-2N), Chemical grade (2N+), 3N-4N high-purity and special grade (used among other things as feedstock for another one of their processes, the PUREVAP
TM NSiR, to produce Silicon nanopowders/nanowires, and as silicon feed for converting into Solar Grade UMG silicon). HPQ's website has good descriptions of the applications for these types of Silicon metal. Should their commercialization scale testing for the PUREVAP
TM QRR (Quartz Reduction Reactor) and PUREVAP
TM NSiR (Nano Silicon Reactor) proceed as expected, their internal studies (as mentioned in News Releases and Interviews by the HPQ CEO as well as shown on HPQ’s 2019 ‘Project Milestones’ & 2020 Corporate presentation) estimate that they can produce the various types of silicon metal at lower prices than currently possible in the industry. See also:
https://www.pyrogenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PyroGenesis-Provides-GEN2-Testing-Report-to-HPQ-Silicon-Resources-Confirms-PUREVAP%E2%84%A2-Process-Significantly-Reduces-the-Cost-of-Making-Silicon-Metal.pdf. Pyrogenesis will receive 10% Royalties from HPQ’s revenues, which is essentially a direct input to Pyro’s bottom line as they do not incur any costs, and Pyro currently own ~14% of HPQ shares (FD).
While the technology for the PUREVAP
TM application specific to Silicon may belong to HPQ, all other PUREVAP
TM uses are owned by Pyro (and there are potentially many – for PUREVAP feedstock, look to all the metal oxides found in nature or produced as an intermediary to a final product (e.g.
Alumina to Aluminum)
hint: try googling ‘carbothermic reduction of metal oxides in vacuum furnace’). As Pyro said in their first News Release on the technology, from 10/2018, “
PyroGenesis’ PUREVAPTM is a disruptive process that has the ability to revolutionize the way the mining & metallurgy industry produces metals.”
https://www.pyrogenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/PR-PYROGENESIS-ANNOUNCES-PUREVAP%E2%84%A2-PROCESS-BREAKTHROUGH.pdf.
-
Future: Who knows what kind of other plasma related tech they’ll work to commercialize in the future. I for one am certainly looking forward to it!
(Disclaimer: I am invested in both PYR and HPQ, and am not being compensated by either to post this, nor is it meant as investment advice. I do a lot of DD - and encourage you to do your own research because there’s a lot of interesting information out there.)