CLEANING SOLUTION FOR POST-FIRE REMEDIATION - 100% ELIMINATION OF PAH

Project Information

PAHremov

Grant agreement ID: 763285

DOI

10.3030/763285

Project closed

EC signature date 31 January 2017

Start date 1 February 2017

End date 31 May 2017

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

PER SPA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PAHremov (CLEANING SOLUTION FOR POST-FIRE REMEDIATION - 100% ELIMINATION OF PAH)

Reporting period: 2017-02-01 to 2017-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Fire emissions produce toxic and exotoxic species, among them Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) present a health risk for all exposed people. PAHs have important toxic effects on organisms through various actions, being especially worrying their carcinogenic and mutagenic effects as well as their potent immune-suppressant effect.

Professionals can clean smoke damage and all the toxic compound released, but the only current solution to ensure the 100% PAHs elimination is to replace the concrete wall plaster and equipment surfaces affected by fire, increasing the cost of the restoration service and the time to get to the normal activity by customers. This removal of the after-fire compounds creates a large amount of wastes due to the cleaning that need to be transported and treated adequately before their disposal.

The technical objective of the project is to obtain a final product based on an agricultural by-product and therefore biodegradable and environmentally respectful, able to reduce 100% of PAHs with a reduction of the restoration time and costs without the need of post-treatment after the application of the cleaning product. This will reduce the impact of the fire incident in end-users as well as the health risk for fire damaged structures inhabitants and fire remediation workers.

The commercial objective is to consolidate PER Spa’s top position in domestic market and improve significantly the internationalization process already in place towards those developed countries which are health, environment sensitive by direct sales or collaboration with local service providers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the feasibility Study we have determined the applicability conditions of PAHremov solution to ensure the higher degree of PAHs abatement and have planned the demonstrations activities to be carried out in real scenarios affected by fire and in different environments to upgrade the performance of our solution. We have also established the timing, effort, budget and specific activities required at operational level for the technical upgrades and to scale up and industrialize our solution.

We have performed a deep market study to set the business margins and competitors as well as to revise the market strategy. We identified the better locations for the commercialization defining potential early adopters and market drivers, evaluated risks and established risk-mitigation strategies. We have defined our commercial and exploitation strategy being key the successful agreements with key commercial stakeholder. We carried out a Freedom to Operate analysis to ensure that no impediment exist for commercialization and we have negotiate patent licenses required to exploit our solution.

A full cost/benefit analysis considering regulatory issues and analyzing market prices for restoration services has been carried out. We evaluated the total investment requirements to bring the solution to the market, revising the global business plan according to the conclusions of the feasibility study.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PER Spa has developed PAHremov, a solution able to eliminate 100% PAHs on surfaces after fire occurrence, avoiding the need to replace walls or surface equipment affected by fire. Thanks to its biodegradability no further treatment of the disposals after the restoration cleaning are needed.

Structure fire occurrence is not decreasing despite the improved preventive fire measures and new sustainable solutions able to eliminate PAHs presence without replacing all the affected materials is mandatory. Traditional solutions for 100 % PAH removal in fire recovery is to replace the concrete wall plaster or the equipment after an emergency, which needs time and works. PAHremov solution will achieve a reduction in both the time (-75%) and cost (-60%) of the service and will prevent unnecessary risks to people in the area, due to the lack of handling contaminated materials.

Our solution will contribute to the European objectives of reducing the production of residues and preventing health risks to workforce and people exposed. We have invested in a biodegradable and sustainable solution to a current problem, with the positive impact associated to that on the environment, people’s health and recovery after fire incidents for our clients.

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