West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 41

Photo by Neal Warren. building product markets. According to Ohio University, the global market for such plastic composite materials is expected to exceed $8 billion by 2023. CONSOL has also partnered with OMNIS Bailey LLC to develop a refinery that will convert waste coal slurry into two products: a high-quality carbon product that can be used as fuel or feedstock for other higher-value applications and a mineral matter product that has potential to be used as a soil amendment in agricultural applications. Unlimited Potential To continue expanding the industry’s coal-to-product uses, Touchstone Research Laboratories established Touchstone Testing Lab, LLC to offer materials and product testing. The lab’s three locations employee 50 individuals in Millwood, WV; Triadelphia, WV; and Mingo Junction, Ohio. “A race has begun between the development and commercialization of these next-generation materials and applications in response to the reduction in the use of coal,” says Joseph. “We at Touchstone feel confident that large-volume uses for coal will be found, which will also increase the value and, therefore, the selling price per ton of coal.” Touchstone Advanced Composites, another spin-off company of Touchstone Research Laboratory, produces the molds used to create fiber airplane parts and employees about 40 individuals in Triadelphia, WV. Its materials were used in the construction of NASA’s solar sail at “I think we, as a state and as a country, are coming to the realization that the coal-to-products market is essential not only to the coal industry but to the advanced materials of the 21st century. We are presented with a challenge to our imagination. The opportunity in front of us is to reinvent the way we think of coal to create an even better future.” the Langley Research Center, which could support future missions in deep space. “If I want to make a wing out of carbon fiber for an airplane or rocket, I need a mold,” says Joseph. “We build the world’s best molds, and they are made from the coal-based CFOAM. Coal from West CUSTOMIZED EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS Shafer Equipment offers heavy equipment rental and sales, parts and service, and custom fabrication based on customer specifications. Contact us today to see how we can serve you! Construction • Pipeline • Environmental 141 Campbells Creek Dr. Charleston, WV 25306 304-548-4300 shaferequipmentwv.com We take orders for custom fabrications and attachments, including: - Hydroseeding units - Sandblasting units - Vacuum excavators - Personnel carriers - Compressors - Tac rigs Virginia is essentially being used to help make the most advanced aircraft in the world.” Touchstone plans to launch additional spin-off companies in West Virginia in the next few years, including one that will produce exhaust systems for large ships like those used by the U.S. Navy. By using CFOAM, the new exhaust systems will reduce their weight by hundreds of tons and eliminate all the corrosion problems found in current exhaust systems. “Think about the history of smokestacks,” says Joseph. “Going back to steamboats, they had iron smokestacks. When those rusted out, they transitioned to steel, then stainless steel and then titanium. Today they use a material called Inconel. There are all these exotic materials. If you think about the problems ships have, it rains so much, water gets into the exhaust system. The exhaust systems can be as large as eight feet in diameter and seven stories tall. If you have seven of them on a ship, you have a lot of corrosion. We invented a way to make an exhaust system using CFOAM and some ceramic liners where no part of the exhaust system that Rental & Sales Parts & Sales Customized Fabrication Attachments - Concrete mixers - Weld decks - Okada hammers WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM SPRING/SUMMER 2020 39