New method for cleaning fire foam tanks containing PFAS

RecondConcept offers professional PFAS cleaning of tanks and other structures. Contact us for more information. Through a request, we encountered the issue of cleaning PFAS substances in fire trucks and our long experience in cleaning technology and environmentally friendly chemicals could be used to the best effect.

The pilot project was carried out at Eskilstuna airport. After a very successful result, we were trusted by the Stockholm Fire Department to conduct another test where we would document the work process and outcome more carefully.

This resulted in a well-executed task with a successful result of more than 99.9% cleanliness from the original level in the tank, but we need to review how we can continue to optimize the process to make it more cost-effective and also the possibility of achieving an even higher level of cleanliness in the system.

“In this project, it is about ensuring that we eliminate as much as we can of the highly fluorinated substances and that talking about how much we have removed is not interesting but how much is left when you leave the object. Therefore, we have now started a research project that will look at achieving these last small levels”

– Philip Jonasson, project manager at RecondConcept

Research project

On November 28, 2022, RecondConcept, with support from Bizmaker, started a research project with the aim of developing and optimizing its remediation method. Trust to drive this project has been given to CR Competence, a consulting firm that helps companies with their problems, processes and development in physical, analytical and general chemistry.

At CR Competence, experts work who understand how different molecules interact with other molecules and with surfaces. With the help of knowledge and tests in a laboratory environment, they can improve processes and products. Understanding how molecules interact is necessary to be able to improve cleaning processes that require a high degree of cleaning. This knowledge can be applied to many different industries in, for example, pharmaceuticals, process, food, cleantech and medtech.

The project consists of three parts:

Part 1 is to develop methods for reproducing the cleaning process in a laboratory, develop potential theories for developing the process, and test these in the laboratory environment.

Part 2 is to test the most promising alternative in reality and analyze a sharp remediation task.

Part 3 is how to reduce the destruction costs.

The goal of the project is to create a cost-effective method that sanitizes the surfaces of fire trucks from PFAS substances to the greatest extent possible with the conditions we have.

The properties of the synthetic PFAS substances, when spread in the environment, make them remain for a long time as they are not easily biodegradable and they can have an unhealthy impact on both humans and the environment. High levels in the environment have mainly been found in places where large amounts of fire-extinguishing foam containing PFAS have been used, such as at fire training grounds and fire stations.