The Exxon Valdez oil spill proved to be the catalyst that ultimately created Costner Industries Nevada Corp. (CINC). In the aftermath of that incident, Kevin Costner and his brother Dan Costner developed an interest in technologies to separate oil from water that could be implemented cost effectively for future spills and keep the environmental damage to a minimum. They were specifically interested in technologies that would enable operators to collect as much of the spilled product as possible. A thorough search led them to the U.S. Department of Energy. At the DOE, a liquid/liquid annular contactor was being utilized in solvent extraction processes. A scientist, Dave Meikrantz, working with the centrifuges on various solvent extraction/washing applications also recognized the potential of the technology to be scaled up, commercialized and applied to liquid/liquid processes in a wide variety of industries, including oil spills. The Costners were awarded a Technology transfer from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1993. Meikrantz came on board as Director of Technology, and CINC was born. CINC is a privately held company solely owned and operated by Kevin and Dan Costner.
The Costners have long stated their commitment and desire to leave a lasting legacy by providing environmental solutions. CINC embodies their philosophy by providing commercially available technology today. CINC centrifuge technology indirectly helps the environment by minimizing waste streams in industry by improving process efficiencies in separations, extractions, washing and reactions. CINC's directly help the environment when used for oil spill clean-ups and when integrated into bilge water clean-up systems.
The base technology is over 30 years old and has been used by the U.S. Department of Energy for recovery of valuable metals by solvent extraction. With a dedicated team of scientists, engineers and technicians the company spent the first two years scaling up the technology from a miniature prototype capable of only milliliters per minute, to a full scale commercial unit capable of 757 liters per minute. Five sizes have been fully developed for commercial use - Model V-2 up to 2 LPM, Model V-5 up to 23 LPM, Model V-10 up to 114 LPM, Model V-16 up to 341 LPM, Model V-20 up to 757 LPM. Units capable of processing higher flow rates are being developed.
