Co-operative Research projects for SMEs - European Commission ...

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Big boost for benzene detection “There is a huge market drive behind this Emissions of the poisonous and carcinogenic project. Everyone recognises the real chemical benzene are estimated to cause over 10 000 business opportunity.” deaths in Europe each year. Although legislation aims to protect workers and citizens, current monitoring technologies can only measure cumulative benzene levels over a period of time. The BEN-DET project is now developing a portable detector capable of measuring benzene concentrations in real time. This breakthrough technology could be used in industry as a ‘benzene alarm’ and by regulators for more accurate benzene analyses. The Co-operative Research project team could make a valuable contribution to the improvement of public and occupational health and enable effective enforcement of existing legislation. Benzene is a widely used in industry. It is a common organic solvent and a precursor in the production of many products, ranging from drugs and dyes to plastics and petrol. However, it is also a known carcinogen and its use is highly regulated. Emissions levels have to be tightly controlled as specified in European legislation. Directive 2000/69/EC states that the “method for the measurement of benzene will be the pumped sampling method on a sorbent cartridge followed by gas chromatographic determination”. Air is pumped through a cartridge and benzene effectively ‘sticks’ to the walls. The cartridge is then collected and analysed for benzene in a laboratory. However, there are many problems with this technique, which make it inadequate in numerous circumstances. The collection, transportation and laboratory analysis of the cartridge is a costly and time-consuming process. It runs the risk of sample degradation and only measures the total exposure to benzene during the sampling time. Furthermore, the delay between sample collection and availability of results offers no protection from exposure – people really need to know they are being exposed to benzene when it happens, not that they received a dangerous dose weeks previously. Component parts Recognising the market need for real-time benzene detectors, Ion Science, a small UK manufacturer of photoionisation detectors, has teamed up with several other European SMEs (small and mediumsized enterprises) to develop such an innovative device. They have formed the EU-funded BEN-DET Co-operative Research project and have asked Pera in the UK and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Germany to help them with their research. The detector will contain a number of different components including an adsorbent chamber to capture the benzene, housings for sampling and chemical reagents, a photoionising device, gas chromatography, and a radio transmission device to pinpoint the location of the detector in the field. These different technologies will be supplied and developed by the various project participants. Ion Science has a great deal of expertise in photoionisation technology. It already makes devices that use photoionisation to detect gases and volatile organic compounds (VOC) and will implement its detector technology in this benzene detector. SRA Instruments is the project team’s expert in gas chromatography. It is working on the problem of ‘cleaning up’ samples before they are passed to the photoionising detector. Unfortunately, benzene is not the only VOC that will be adsorbed in the device – the photoionising detection will only be accurate if the benzene is separated from other chemical contaminants. SRA will look at a combination of separation and preconditioning techniques, including filtering and heating followed by gas chromatography to enrich the benzene as much as possible. Towards the end of the project, the German SME Vipem may be involved in producing miniaturised heaters and gas chromatography columns which will be important to turn the benzene detector technology into a portable device. The Germany SME Braun Formenbau also focuses on miniaturisation. As a specialist in plastic injection moulding, it will work closely with Pera to make the capillaries and small storage compartments for chemical reagents that will be required to move and mix samples. The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft will develop the necessary valves and micro-pumps. The UK company Sarantel has nothing to do with benzene detection – you are more likely to find its products inside your mobile BEN-DET
phone! This company makes innovative radio-transmission antennae. Its task within the BEN-DET project is to integrate a global positioning system into the portable device to allow users to map benzene levels geographically and locate ‘hot spots’ or sources of pollution. Rapid growth By the end of the three-year project, the participants hope to have a working, prototype product ready for full commercialisation. The input of the oil giant Shell will be invaluable in this respect. As a potential end-user, it will give advice on specifications for the product and field test a prototype device. Ultimately, its feedback will help BEN-DET to develop a well-designed, well-priced product that will be readily accepted in the VOC detector market. The partners anticipate that sales would increase quickly – industry and regulators have been calling for such a device for decades. The BEN-DET project could rapidly turn into a successful business venture for the SMEs involved, while the successful commercialisation of the end product could create hundreds of new jobs, save hundreds of lives, and help the environment, all at the same time. Project title Improved air pollution and worker exposure monitoring and control through the development of a near real time benzene specific gas analysis & measurement instrument (BEN-DET) Contract number CT-2004-508107 Duration 24 months Global project cost € 1 578 779 EC contribution € 773 947 A miniaturised chromatography column. Contact person Mr Duncan Johns Ion Science Ltd The Way Fowlmere Herts SG8 7UJ United Kingdom Tel: +44 1763 208503 Fax: +44 1763 208814 duncan.johns@ionscience.com www.ionscience.com Co-operative Research–1 “The device will help to make the environment and the workplace safer for European citizens.” Participants 1 Ion Science Ltd (UK) 2 Braun Formenbau GmbH (DE) 3 Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V. (DE) 4 Pera Innovation Ltd (UK) 5 Sarantel Ltd (UK) 6 Shell International BV (NL) 7 SRA Instruments (FR) 8 Vipem Hackert GmbH (DE)
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