Thermal Conversion Corp, or TCC, is the successor to Plasma Technology Inc., a Santa Fe, N.M., company that spun off from developments at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Bohn said the company has five employees and several consultants and will relocate to the Tri-Cities once the deal is finalized. Bohn is looking at locations now. TCC's chief product is an induction coupled plasma torch, a high-temperature torch that can generate temperatures ranging from 4,000 degrees Celsius to 15,000 degrees Celsius. Bohn said the plasma torch is basically a tube surrounded by a coil.
Gas flows through the tube, and a high-frequency current is transmitted through the coil.
The resulting intense electromagnetic field ionizes the gas, establishing an electrical arc, transferring electrical energy from the field to the plasma gas. The Kent company is exploring possible commercial uses, but a promising one involves using the torch to convert toxic wastes to useful products. The technology is being tested in TCC's 1-megawatt test facility. It is well on its way to establishing itself as a viable commercial process, Bohn said. Bob Ferguson, chairman and chief executive of Nuvotec, said TCC is exactly the sort of company that can benefit from Nuvotec's administrative strengths.