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RECAPTURING OF FUMIGATION GAS
Belgium has set a new environmental standard in this area – from July 1st 2007 any methyl bromide used in Belgium has to be recaptured, using a system accredited by the government. At present this standard has been set at achieving at least 80% of the gas available at the end of the fumigation. After recapture the gas needs to be safely disposed of, to prevent its emission in the atmosphere.
Nordiko Quarantine Systems is an Australian company that has been developing recapture technology for the last 9 years, and has the major share of the Belgian market. SGS Environmental in Australia supervised the accreditation tests for Nordiko, and SGS – Sanitec selected Nordiko equipment for use in Belgium.
The system is installed prior to the fumigation of the enclosure. Once installed, the enclosure is made gas tight, not only to prevent loss of fumigant, which would not only reduce effectiveness, but would equally induce unnecessary safety and environmental issues.
Once the installation is verified the fumigant gas is released in the enclosure in order to kill pests. A reliable and professional fumigation is a crucial requirement to prevent swarming and spreading of organisms that are ecologically destructive and a menace public health.
After the required exposure time has been realized, the gas is removed from the container and flushed on a filter containing activated carbon. The gas molecules are hence absorbed to the carbon and immobilized. Once the concentration in the container is below the MAC or TLV value, the installation can be removed and the container can continue its long journey.
The carbon that is saturated with the fumigant can be safely transported to an industrial installation for safe and ecological recycling.
An additional advantage obtained with the use of a recuperation unit is that re-intrusion of insects is prevented. Indeed, present ventilation of a container is by simply opening the container to ambient atmosphere which creates the risk of insects (re-)entering the fumigated container, thus jeopardizing the effectiveness of the operation.
Next to the safety and environmental concerns, other opportunities using this recapture technology arise. Indeed, the system can be applied to provide faster ventilation and removal of residual gases from containers and fumigated items. Due to the properties of the carbon filter, the system can also be applied to monitor and recapture other volatile harmful substances and hence contribute to a safe environment and a safe place to work.
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