EcoPAS picks Greenbelt Resources for pollution control project

EcoPAS, a Sacramento, California-based company dedicated to developing and applying modern technologies that help overcome winemaking challenges, has chosen Greenbelt Resources Corp., Paso Robles, California, to manufacture its Passive Alcohol System (PAS), a pollution control device that captures and transforms gaseous ethanol emissions into quality spirit products.

The full-scale PAS will be used in a soon-to-be-announced commercial winery during the grape harvest this summer and fall. Marci Marci Norkin-Schöpel, co-founder of EcoPAS, says the system should be installed and operational by this July. Meanwhile, the 2015 goal of EcoPAS is to become designated as a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) to assist in smog reduction from winery emissions, while retaining the otherwise lost vapors for their commercial value.

Norkin-Schöpel says its first full-scale system will be able to handle around 120,000 gallons. He notes that the project has been in the testing stage for close to five years and the winery will be the first commercial application of the system, which has been geared exclusively for the winery industry.

“After a rigorous bidding process and extensive consideration, we chose Greenbelt Resources. With their cutting-edge ethanol technology and expertise we see a long-term relationship with Greenbelt as our partner,” says Norkin-Schoepel. “By selecting Greenbelt Resources, we benefit not only from their innovative, green manufacturing capabilities, but also their experience in ethanol condensation, which allows the potential for future collaboration beyond contract manufacturing.”

EcoPAS selected Greenbelt Resources as a manufacturing partner to fabricate the initial full-scale PAS units. A portion of the product produced by the PAS may serve as a feedstock for Greenbelt’s modular distillation and dehydration systems.

Through EcoPAS’ PAS system the company is able to extract a unique, high-quality spirit using ethanol vapors otherwise lost during active wine fermentation. The system captures and transforms gaseous ethanol emissions into a spirit containing many of the light floral esters that typically evaporate during fermentation.

“The invention of the PAS by EcoPAS is significant because of its ability to passively perform ethanol vapor-capture without the need for complex controls or major energy inputs — making it a truly environmentally friendly pollution control system,” says Darren Eng, CEO of Greenbelt Resources Corp. “The EcoPAS management and design team share our vision and have created a growth industry simply by producing a much needed passive, pollution-control solution. Once a critical mass of Passive Alcohol Systems is deployed, the resulting volume of ethanol-containing product can generate demand for distillation and dehydration systems built by Greenbelt Resources from wineries and other fermentation processers in the U.S. and internationally.”

EcoPAS says the company recently completed a successful pilot test at a commercial winery in Santa Barbara County. Completion of the full-scale system is expected by the end of the second quarter of 2015.