The topic of decontamination from PCBs is very much felt by the French Ministry of the Environment. In effect, last December, the minister Kosciusko-Morizet reminded that in all Europe, Directive EC no. 96/59 imposed to decontaminate or dispose of within 31stDecember 2010 all the equipment with PCBs exceeding 500 ppm (mg/kg). After this communication, an investigative campaign followed to verify if, an in which measure, the holders managed the PCBs problem. Those investigations emphasized that about 600 holders were unable to comply with the term of 31st December 2010.
According to an inventory made by ADEME (Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie) in 2002, in France about 4,400 holders and 540,000 equipment were involved by the subject norm. The vast majority of this equipment are transformers and capacitors used in the production, transportation and distribution of energy, sectors in which the holders have started and often terminated the decontamination campaigns of the transformers with PCBs. Still remain in the shadow, according to what emerges from the investigation by the French Ministry, an entire series of equipment with a volume lower to those mentioned here above, belonging to the sector of the chemical, metallurgical and auto repair industry.
On this subject, the same «Ministère de l’écologie» reminds that a list of accredited companies for the decontamination of equipment contaminated by PCBs exists, to achieve the full compliance under full safety. Sea Marconi, besides being among the accredited companies, is also the company winning the framework contract for the complete decontamination from PCBs of power transformers of the French electricity giant EDF.
Sea Marconi uses a patented technology CDP Process®, that decontaminates the transformers through a chemical dehalogenation of the PCBs. This technique provides a complete functional recovery of oil and equipment, thus preventing the disposal; this means, in other terms, a substantial financial advantage for the holder and an extraordinary benefit for the environment.
CDP Process® by Sea Marconi, is the only technology operating in continuous, closed-loop mode, without an even partial draining of the transformer that, besides decontaminating the oil taking it back to optimized functional conditions (complying with IEC 60422 Ed. 3 2005) also provides a “cleaning” of the particulate depositing at the bottom of the transformer and on the papers.
Sea Marconi, thanks to its CDP Process®, ensures to the main holders at international level the Best Available Technique (BAT) for the decontamination of transformers with insulating fluids in operation
Read more (French language):
http://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/decontamination-pcb-plan-national-decembre-11638.php4
