Heat is the eco-friendly way to go

If environmental friendliness and safety are of paramount importance to your company, then heat is the way to go when it comes to your BMSB treatments. Like in this case of a flat rack container filled with machine parts bound for Australia.

The fumigation division of EWS Group specialises in BMSB treatments. Both by means of sulfuryl fluoride and heat. ‘It was mainly for environment reasons that the customer opted for heat treatment of these flat rack containers’, says Paul van Luit, Technical and Commercial Advisor Fumigation at EWS Group.

This regular customer is an international transport company that often transports machine parts to, among other countries, Australia. ‘We provided heat treatments for multiple flat rack containers during last BMSB season. This kind of cargo is marked as high risk, but perfect for heat treatment as it can withstand the heat and is easy to handle on site’, Paul continues.

The cargo is placed on the treatment area. EWS will check the cargo for suitability and temperature sensors are placed in the cargo for treatment data recording. The heating process is then started. EWS uses heaters with hot dry air. No combustion gasses are introduced into the cargo.

When the heating process is finished, the heater is turned off and the door is opened for cooling down the inside air. Cargo is released when the temperature has decreased back to ambient air temperature and the doors are closed and sealed. Cargo can then be transported to the export terminal.

Why not always opt for heat treatment?

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to opt for heat treatment in which case the load will be fumigated with sulfuryl fluoride. Reasons to choose for fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride may be goods that are not heat resistant, low temperatures or bad weather forecasts, tight deadlines or a limited amount of handling at one time. In addition, heat treatment is usually a bit more expensive than fumigation.

Do you want to know if heat treatment is a viable option for your shipment to Australia or New Zealand, do not hesitate to contact us for more information.