GEA builds innovative emergency unit for chlorine gas accidents
In Germany, approx. 250,000 tons/year of chlorine are transported by rail. Despite high safety standards applicable already today for the transport of this chemical substance there is a residual risk in case of railway accidents. In such a case, the tank wagons would have to be completely emptied at short term. Therefore, Akzo Nobel Industrial Chemicals GmbH in Ibbenbüren decided to invest in an innovative mobile emergency unit for chlorine gas accidents and to make it available to authorities, fire brigades, police and other action forces within the scope of the transport-accident information system (TUIS = Transport-Unfall-Informations-System). GEA Wiegand will design and construct this worldwide unique plant which has a weight of nine tons.
The plant is accommodated in standardized containers which can be transported to the place of accident by road, by rail and, if required, by air. On site, the plant will then be ready for operation within an extremely short period of time, and compared to the former plants, it handles a flow rate which is higher by a factor of ten, because speed of action is extremely important in case of chlorine accidents.
Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel makes available a six-digit EUR-amount from the environment innovation programme for this pilot project of Akzo Nobel Industrial Chemicals. "With the innovative plant, safety for the transport of chlorine will be considerably improved. This supports the protection of the environment, but most of all the protection of mankind", said Gabriel recently in a press release concerning this issue.
The system’s technology uses the jet gas washer principle. This allows it to draw in contaminated air without a mechanical fan, chemically bind the chlorine in the washing fluid, and release the cleaned air into the atmosphere in accordance with the limits set by TA Luft (German Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control). In addition, this technology prevents any formation of hydrochloric acid during absorption of the chlorine gas, which usually leads to considerable secondary damage. GEA is already working on further projects using this innovative system to dispose of other corrosive gases in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.
