The Accsys Group comprises the holding company and four wholly-owned subsidiaries:-
·Titan Wood Limited – focused on the licensing of wood acetylation technology and the development of the Accoya® wood brand;
·Titan Wood B.V. – focused on the production of Accoya® wood to develop end-product applications of Accoya® wood in major markets and to supply the early product needs of potential licensees;
·Titan Wood Technology B.V. – focused on the development of acetylation technologies and the provision of technical assistance to licensees;
·International Cellulose Company Limited (ICC) – the owner of various technologies relating to cellulose modification and high temperature cracking technology.
Technologies in which Accsys has proprietary rights include:
This is the process which attaches additional 'acetyl' molecules to wood to increase its durability, dimensional stability and colour stability. The process enables widely available, fast-growing softwoods and non-durable hardwoods to be modified to reach or exceed the performance of the best tropical hardwoods. Since all wood naturally contains acetyl (which is derived from acetic acid - vinegar), wood that is modified by this process not only delivers exceptional performance but also avoids the environmental impact associated with normal wood preservatives, which use toxic chemicals to improve performance. Consumers now have the opportunity to choose a new wood that is both non-toxic and derived entirely from environmentally managed, sustainable forests in place of treated woods and tropical hardwoods.
High temperature cracking is the process by which lower-value, heavier molecular structures are broken down into higher value, shorter molecules. This process is not unique to Accsys and is common across the chemical industry (e.g. the process by which crude oil is converted to say, petrol or aviation fuel). Accsys' process is based around the niche area of dehydrogenation reaction technology and is expected to offer significant benefits to users of the process.
This involves reacting certain types of chemical with cellulose usually derived from wood or cotton pulp. ICC's technology has been particularly applied to the reaction of cellulose with acetic anhydride, a process called acetylation, and produces a non-toxic material which is used in a variety of applications, such as film coatings.
