NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        April 2019

Eliminating Silos can Increase Profits in Air, Water and Energy

The Most Profitable Market Program is a business strategy which quantifies the opportunities to increase profits through sale of products with a lower total cost of ownership than presently available. This program will accelerate progress in the air, water, and energy markets through the following:

  • Identify new profit opportunities
  • Spur R&D
  • Result in new products with lowest total cost of ownership
  • Reduce costs for operators

The identification of new profit opportunities requires

  • Detailed knowledge of specific processes
  • Performance of products in those processes
  • Elimination of silos between industries. Geographies, and technologies
  • Insights to global developments and needs

The silos between industries need to be penetrated and collaboration among disparate suppliers encouraged. A good case in point is the use of resin bonded sand for hydraulic fracturing. Dow Chemical introduced a new resin for sand coating in 2014. The polyurethane offers more elasticity than phenolics. As a result the fractures do not collapse. Collapsing leads to sand particles in the product. As the product is transported by the electric submersible pump, the sand abrades the impellers. Pumps with an initial cost of over $100,000 can experience life cycles measured in months.

NR2498

This life has been extended when resin coated sand is utilized. The overall cost of oil extraction is lessened. With lower feedstock costs, the resin is less costly to manufacture. This can lead to lower resin prices and give even more reason to select resin coated over uncoated sand. Suppliers of pumps, frac sand plants, resin, friction reducers and other products need to understand the relationship between products.

The need for breaking down silos between technologies is exemplified in rare earth extraction. DOE and the Chinese government are pursuing a technology which micronizes flyash from landfills and then adds hydrochloric acid. There is already a free rare earths feedstock in a 30% acid stream available as explained at
HCl Scrubbing and Rare Earth Recovery from Coal-Fired Power Plants and Gasifiers are the Perfect Marriage

For more information on the Most Profitable Market Program click on www.mcilvainecompany.com Bob McIlvaine can answer your questions at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 847 226 2391.