While Larry Young was working for Spence Corrosion Services, he took notice of recent pipeline oil spills. He believed in the future of Canada’s oil and gas sector, but he also believed in protecting the health of Canada’s environment. If the energy industry could put secondary containment around oil tanks, why not pipelines as well?

From this question, the Envirolock secondary containment system was born. With the basic design concept on paper, Larry partnered with Eric Thomsen and co-founded pipeline integrity startup Total Containment in 2016 to pursue his visionary idea. The first generation of Envirolock was bulky, but nevertheless provided an effective proof of concept.

With the support of an Alberta Innovates research grant in 2018, Larry continued to refine his designs. Work persisted in spite of the arrival of the global COVID pandemic. In 2021, TCI onboarded Jim Walsh and TCI’s first patent officially arrived. Foresight Canada selected the pipeline integrity startup as one of their 50 Most Investible Clean Tech firms later that year.

Expanding Market Applications

During this time, the second generation of Envirolock was created. Significantly stronger and more compact, this version forms the basis for TCI’s current product line. Originally built for the oil and gas sector, Larry and Jim soon discovered that other sectors were just as eager to solve their pipeline integrity challenges. Municipalities were looking for opportunities to prevent leaks and sewer infiltration. Mining companies needed solutions to withstand the harshest chemical environments. Carbon sequestration and hydrogen researchers also saw promise in Envirolock’s capabilities to mitigate ductile running fractures and embrittlement. As TCI’s team continued to hone its designs for hydrocarbon pipelines, they also adapted the system to meet the market's additional demands.

Growing Industry Support

The team’s hard work began to bear fruit. In 2022, Joe Freedman became TCI’s lead investor and Board chairman. TCI partnered with PRCI to successfully host its first public demonstration in Houston, TX during February 2023. Shortly thereafter, Bill Whitelaw joined TCI’s Board of Directors and national sewer expert Barbara Robinson publicly backed TCI's sewer guard product. Industry feedback continued to be positive and TCI gained multiple letters of support. In the summer of 2023, TCI announced that a mining company had committed to purchase a test pipe to validate Envirolock's performance. This was in anticipation of potentially installing it on a 600-meter pipeline segment carrying extremely corrosive chemicals.

When people ask “why not?”, some respond by listing problems to explain why it can’t be done. When TCI responds, problems are reframed as challenges to overcome and proves instead that it CAN be done. If your organization shares TCI’s determination to embrace what’s POSSIBLE in pipeline integrity, we invite you to join us in building a more resilient, safe, and sustainable future!