Thursday, March 24, 2011

Advanced Electron Beams forms deal with Japanese manufacturer

By Kyle Alspach

Advanced Electron Beams Inc. said it has entered a strategic agreement with a “leading” Japanese original equipment manufacturer, made possible by the introduction of a new electron beam emitter for sterilizing bottles.

The Wilmington-based company, which makes e-beam emitters for low-energy sterilization in the food and beverage packaging industry, did not release the name of the new partner. But in a statement, Advanced Electron Beams said the introduction of the new e16ITB emitter was the key. The company said it designed the emitter for the Asian market, where the bottle geometries require a narrow nozzle emitter.

Brian Phillips, vice president of sales at Advanced Electron Beams, said the move to electron beam from traditional chemical-based sterilization technologies is growing due to the rising cost of energy and bottle resin, along with pressure to cut the use of water and chemicals.

The company’s emitters use a stream of negatively charged particles, projected at high speeds, to initiate chemical reactions or break chemical bonds. The process uses less energy and has a lower environmental impact than conventional approaches, according to the company.

Advanced Electron Beams said the new emitter is its second product for sterilizing PET and HDPE bottles. “With this new product introduction, AEB now services the entire aseptic bottle market up to two liters,” said Jeffrey Andrews, the company’s vice president of engineering, in a statement.

The technology offers the lowest operating cost of any bottle sterilization technology, according to Advanced Electron Beams.

In the next phase of the rollout of the emitters, company executives have said they expect to market the electron emitters for curing of inks and other coatings, and for making plastics and polymers stronger. Those applications have been in the pilot phase with customers.

Last September, Richard Feldt left his post as CEO at Evergreen Solar Inc. to take over as Advanced Electron Beams’ chief executive.

The company is growing fast and ready to scale up its operation, just as Evergreen was when he joined, Feldt said at the time. “I have a history of joining companies when they are smaller, on the verge of substantial growth opportunities, and helping to transition them into something larger,” he said.