A long history in oil reclamation
DuraTherm’s founders began operation of their first oil recovery facility in 1977, utilizing the solvent extraction technology they had developed a few years earlier and operating a small refinery to produce specification oil products from waste petroleum residuals.  That business eventually became the largest oil recovery facility on the Texas Gulf Coast, reclaiming millions of barrels of petroleum from oil residuals.

In 1986, with the redefinition of the Boiler and Industrial Furnace regulations, DuraTherm’s San Leon plant was granted a RCRA interim status permit.

Evolving oil reclamation technologies 
From 1989 through 1996, the Company’s assets were merged into Bird Environmental, operating under Bird Corporation of Massachusetts which wanted to develop three-phase centrifugation and sought the expertise of DuraTherm’s founders.  This combination of resources and talent led to several advances in petroleum recovery, including

• the introduction of three-phase centrifugal separation of petroleum waste, a technology that became the standard for onsite management of petroleum refinery emulsions
• the granting of a patent and the commencement of operations for the treatment of styrene oil waste
• the recovery of almost one million barrels of oil from heavy oil impoundment deposits dating from the 1940s inside a Texas refinery
• the granting of patents and conducting of pilot tests for the DuraTherm Desorption^SM technology
• a full Part B RCRA permit for the San Leon plant in 1994
• the commencement of full commercial operation of the first DuraTherm Desorption^SM system in 1994. 

In 1996, Bird Corporation divested its interest in the business to Duratek, and the company, remaining under the management of its founders, changed its name to DuraTherm. 

• By 1998, DuraTherm’s San Leon facility had become the largest facility for treatment of petroleum refinery hazardous waste residuals in the US.
• All major US oil companies audited, approved, and began utilization of the plant services.
• Designs for a Middle Eastern oil recovery facility were completed.
• DuraTherm designed and executed the removal and reclamation of more than 50 years of oil accumulation from the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
• Additional DuraTherm Desorption^SM patents were granted and new technology improvements implemented.

• Operations of a second DuraTherm Desorption^SM train began in 2002.
• DuraTherm Desorption^SM technology was advanced and additional patents sought and granted.
• Patent litigation against Onsite Technology LLC, was successful; DuraTherm acquired Onsite Technology’s intellectual property and physical assets, including their mobile thermal desorption fleet.
• DuraTherm Desorption^SM process systems were manufactured to the specifications of two major global energy companies, and operations commenced on Asia’s largest oil recovery facility.
• DuraTherm completed its alliance with a major residual metals company and began processing residuals to specifications suitable for metal recycling pathways.

The evolution continues
DuraTherm continues to reinvest its profits as it always has, directing its resources to the creation of improved technologies and acquiring additional resources for the improvement of its recycling services for its energy-related customers.  We have plans in both the design and execution stages that will allow us to lower our costs, improve our capability, and reduce our customers’ long-term liability.

Our goal is to take our customers out of the waste liability business and into the valuable by-product residuals manufacturing business.  Our dedication to technology and operations development, combined with our customers’ unswerving support of our service, moves all of us closer to that goal, year by year.