In February, senior Obama Administration officials were here to coach smaller Twin Cities businesses on accessing foreign markets.
Bob Walker doesn't seem to have any trouble.
In January, his company
Bixby Energy Systems shipped its second coal-to-gas devolitilization system to China — part of a round of five the company has sold. (
Global Partners United buys the devolitilization units from Bixby and licenses and sells them in China.)
Not bad for a nine-person R&D outfit from Ramsey, you say? Well, Bixby plans to manufacture at least 80 more in the coming fiscal year, according to Walker, Bixby's CEO and president.
That amount is limited not by demand on the part of the Chinese market, says Walker, but by Bixby's manufacturing capabilities.
The company's main technology is the Bixby Process, through which "devolitilization" super-heats coal without burning it. The system's sealed environment eliminates carbon emissions, according to Bixby.
The result is a natural gas that is 65 percent cleaner, says Walker, as well as a semi-activated carbon by-product. Walker says Bixby is in development of a second technology--a hydrogenation liquefaction system--that they hope will be able to turn that carbon into oil products like diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline.
Walker sees other uses for the carbon by-product as well, which he refers to as the "plastic of the future."
The technology came out of Michelin North America's attempt to recapture energy from tires, says Walker. "We said, 'Great concept! This works on all carbon products?"
Bixby, formed in 2001, licensed the technology, and brought the key researcher in-house.
The double benefit of "making coal a more palatable tool" and the oil by-product are driving interest in Bixby's technology, says Walker.
"There are a lot of companies that are relying on the Middle East right now, and who are producing a lot of carbon, and it could make them oil- and energy-independent," he says.
The units start at $2.5 million apiece but can sell for twice that, depending on the market and situation, says Walker. Multiply even the starting price by 80, and the sales blow Walker's recent estimates of $25 million in 2012 revenue out of the water.
Walker says he has seen interest from domestic customers, and that there is a U.S. market for his systems.
"It can be profitable anywhere in the world," he says. "It's just that the U.S. is a little slower to adopt things than the rest of the world."
Source: Bob Walker, Bixby Energy Systems
Writer: Jeremy Stratton