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A Portland-based company, , has figured out a way to use the turbulence that occurs naturally in fluids to combat air and water pollution.

Vorsana has 10 patents and 43 international patent applications covering intellectual property and technology that isolates pollutants from potentially valuable substances including coal, oil, natural gas and manure in dairy farms.

鈥淎ll of it is about getting the good stuff isolated from the bad stuff,鈥� Vorsana CEO David McCutchen said.

The fundamental idea is that when a fluid is fed through two disks that are rotating in opposite directions close to each other, and a source of suction is put on top, thousands of little vortexes arise in the space between the disks. The result is that heavier particles move outward and lighter ones are sucked into the center.

鈥淧ollution is more difficult to handle when it is diffuse,鈥� McCutchen said. 鈥淭his process strips out all of the good stuff that is obscuring the bad stuff. Then you’re dealing with a concentrated pollution stream.鈥�

There are numerous patent-pending uses of the McCutchen Process, which was developed by David McCutchen’s older brother, Wilmot. Vorsana has patented one basic machine that can be adapted into many different models; two are being manufactured in Portland and Utah.

In Portland, the company is making prototypes for a Nevada mining company that David McCutchen said he couldn’t name. Vorsana has a contract with the Nevada-based company for technology that will be used to recover more metal out of 鈥渢ailings,鈥� which is waste rock from the mining process.

鈥淚t’s a secret process that’s much, much more efficient,鈥� McCutchen said. 鈥淚t’s a way of getting more valuable stuff out of what they would otherwise throw away, and preventing pollution in the process.鈥�

Vorsana, founded in 2008, is a regional semifinalist in the Cleantech Open business competition. The national winner will receive a $250,000 grand prize. Vorsana has moved forward mainly with money from angel investors, and contributions from the company’s four members.

The next stage for Vorsana will be to test and refine the engineering through partnerships with universities or industry groups able to study the 鈥渟eparation phenomenon.鈥�

鈥淭here are large markets available in the oil and gas industry and also in the dairy industry, generally in wastewater treatment,鈥� McCutchen said. 鈥淲e see the need and the opportunity in those areas in the near future, even if we can’t take advantage of them right away because we don’t have the equipment yet.鈥�