History
CSIRO/SRL Plasma Test Rig
used for the destruction of
ozone depleting substances
PLASCON® rig at Nufarm Ltd
Operator
CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia's principal research organisation, developed a world leading in-flight plasma-arc destruction technology that has changed the way companies think about solving their hazardous waste problems. Superior destruction performance is now available in a compact and fully automated package at relatively low cost. This process is known as PLASCON®
The research and development effort commenced in 1987 and continues today. The key to the development was the very early use of the technology in commercial applications, the first being in 1992. Throughout the development period, laboratory trials were run in parallel with commercial operations in order to validate the key performance parameters and destruction results.
The team of engineers and scientists engaged in the development were drawn from Siddons Ramset Ltd (Siddons) own resources and various sections of CSIRO including: Manufacturing Science & Technology, Applied Physics, Materials Science and Chemicals & Polymers.
PLASCON® is patented in key international jurisdictions with an ongoing and active patenting process implemented. In addition to the PLASCON® patent, CSIRO hold a number of other plasma related patents.
In April 1993 Siddons established a new wholly owned division, SRL Plasma Limited, which held the exclusive worldwide license to commercialise and further develop the technology.
In 2000, BCD Technologies, an Australian company specialising in treatment of Persistant Organic Pollutants (POPs) such as PCB oils and Organo-Chlorine Pesticides (OCPs) bought SRL Plasma from Siddons Ramset.
In 2006, BCD Holdings Pty Ltd was acquired by DoloMatrix International Limited. SRL Plasma Pty Ltd is now part of the DoloMatrix group of companies. DoloMatrix provides a suit of proprietary hazardous waste treatment and resource recovery technologies and services in the waste management and environmental remediation fields.
Nufarm Limited, Australia's largest manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, installed the first PLASCON® plant in 1992. The plant was designed to treat waste chlorophenols from their 2,4-0 herbicide manufacturing process. Following the success of the first installation a second plant was added in 1995.
SRL Plasma Limited has extensive expertise in the field of plasma destruction technology having developed and operated its own PLASCON® plant on a commercial basis since 1996. The plant is used to destroy ozone depleting substances such as CFC's (refrigerants) and Halons (fire extinguishing compounds) at the Australian National Halon Bank.
BCD Technologies Ltd, a Queensland based waste destruction company, was granted a PLASCON® licence and purchased a PLASCON® plant in 1997: The PLASCON® plant was installed at BCD’s Narangba EPA licensed integrated hazardous waste treatment facility and has been used extensively for the destruction of concentrated Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) waste. PCB is a banned hazardous substance previously used as a dielectric in transformers and capacitors. As a front end pre treatment process BCD Technologies utilisea a Thermal desorption system to extract contaminants before their destruction by PLASCON®. In 2006 BCD Technologies was aquired by DoloMatrix Environmental Solutions Pty Ltd.
SRL Plasma's commitment to research and development is ongoing, with an ever-increasing range of wastes now being treated.