Ash Improvement Technology, a developer of technology for converting coal combustion residues into a building product, has raised $3 million in venture capital. One investor participated in the offering.

Ash Improvement Technology Inc. (AIT) is a technology-driven mineral resources company. The firm has developed a proprietary process to convert more than 100 million annual tons in the US, and 1 billion tons worldwide, of landfilled coal combustion residues into a valuable building product with proven environmental benefits.

AIT's patent-pending technology, named CleanCem, is applied directly at power plants and eliminates the production of waste ash, instead converting it into a chemically modified product that mimics the behavior of cement. Through application of the CleanCem process directly at the power plant, ash is never created. Instead, the material collected is a cogenerated cementitious product. CleanCem overcomes the traditional barriers that have until now impeded higher utilization of ash in concrete, making the product obtained a cost effective and abundant substitute for ordinary cement.