NEWSROOM

TULSA – At first, Mike Callaway figured his equipment was either broken or wrong. Callaway was experimenting on a product to neutralize dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. The thing was, he’d found a combination that worked for not only minutes – but hours – at a time.

“I figured I needed to replace my calibration equipment,” Callaway said.

Only after further testing did he recognize that everything in his lab worked, and that he’d found the right combination of ingredients.

Hydrogen sulfide gas, also known by the chemical symbol H2S, gives off the all-too familiar rotten eggs odor. It is poisonous and corrosive, said Callaway, founder and president of Sapulpa-based Cal-Tech LLC.

“Hydrogen sulfide deadens your sense of smell at just 150 parts per million,” Callaway said. “One breath of 1,000 parts per million causes a person to pass out.”

For perspective, about 50 percent of people, when they get just a whiff of the odor, detect the rotten egg smell. That amount of gas is 0.00047 ppm.

Breathe too much of the substance and it becomes deadly. It occurs around oil and natural gas wells, landfills or sanitary sewer lines.

Callaway, who has a chemistry degree from Cameron University in Lawton, started researching various possibilities and ended up with a product he is marketing called Sulfabate.

Callaway has spent many years working in the oil and gas sector and was aware for the need to take out the dangerous gas. After working on field trials for several months and going through several hundred experiments, Callaway said he took a step back and started thinking outside the box.

It was then he came up with a formulation that was marketable – after he made sure his equipment was indeed working properly.

His company, Cal-Tech, manufactures the granular product, which filters the hydrogen sulfide out of natural gas, landfill gas and sewer gas. The product works by reacting with the H2S to form sulfur, which is a nonhazardous, naturally occurring substance.

“Sulfabate is 300 percent more effective in removing hydrogen sulfide than competitive products,” Callaway said. “It also is much easier to install and remove from the pressure vessel that is required.”

The name Sulfabate comes from the two root words “Sulfa” (sulfur) and “abate” (removal).

Sulfabate is a green product, Callaway said.

“It is composed of recycled industrial waste materials,” he said.

Cal-Tech was recently named a semifinalist in the SpiritBank/Tulsa Community College Entrepreneurial Spirit Award competition. Callaway is selling the products and will sell more once he is able to enlarge his production facility.

“I am very excited to be in the semifinals,” Callaway said. “The networking is great and the presentations are helpful getting you focused on what you’re trying to accomplish.”