CleanSmoke reduces health risks in several ways
The Corona pandemic has brought the discussion about health hazards in the workplace back into focus. In conventional smokehouses, for example, three main sources of danger lurk: Smoke, fire and explosion hazards. The most underestimated is certainly the exposure to fine dust from the smoke. Fine dust particles have a diameter of just 5 µm. They can hover in the air for several hours before settling. And they easily enter the lungs. By the time the dust particles are stirred up or carried away with work clothing, it is already too late.
Dust protection begins at the start of production. It is not without reason that the first three of the German Social Accident Insurance’s “Ten Golden Rules for Dust Control” are the follwing: 1. prevent dust from forming in the first place, 2. use low-dust materials, and 3. work in enclosed facilities wherever possible. These rules can be followed in smokehouses exclusively with CleanSmoke.
“With CleanSmoke, smokehouses have a good chance of demonstrating responsibility for their employees,” says Uwe Vogel. He is chairman of the CleanSmoke Coalition, a joint initiative of primary smoke product manufacturers, food producers and retailers. The innovative smoking process makes jobs in smokehouses much safer. CleanSmoke is smoke freshly produced from primary smoke condensate completely without fire or embers for the smokehouse.
Less exposure to smoke, ash and fine dust particles possible
Employees in traditional smoking systems are directly exposed to smoke. Due to the design, this cannot be completely eliminated. In addition, open embers and gases always pose a fire and explosion hazard. And the plants still emit too many emissions into the air despite legally prescribed air pollution control technologies. The combustion processes produce smoke, ash and fine dust particles that are considered more or less harmful to health.
Smokehouses that use CleanSmoke technology easily comply with all air pollutant limits set by the German Clean Air Act (TA Luft). Analyses carried out as part of the European Eco-innovation Action Plan (EcoAP) showed that CleanSmoke can reduce particulate matter by 87 percent. Also emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is lessened by 64 percent.
CleanSmoke means smoking in a closed system
With CleanSmoke, the primary smoke condensate is re-generated into a stable smoke with the help of compressed air. This smoke, generated outside the smoke chamber, is fed into the smoke chamber using smoke tubes. The exhaust air is then fed back into the smoke generator. It is therefore a closed smoking system ⎼ without filters, afterburning, or emissions. The re-generated smoke contains neither fine dust nor explosive components such as tar or ash. These are already removed from the smoke during the production of the smoke condensate. Preventive controls of the smoking plants required by the explosion protection ordinance are therefore not necessary. Smoking is possible 24 hours a day without supervision.
Smoke for the condensate is also produced in a closed system (smoke generator) by pyrolysis instead of combustion or smoldering. There are no health-hazardous substances such as carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatics (PAHs), with which employees in conventional smoking departments can come into contact. The risk of cancer-causing wood dust is also excluded, as no chips are used.
Saving 2,600 tons of cleaning agents per year for the environment
The non-combustible smoke condensate can be stored without any further requirements. In addition, cleaning the smoke compartment is much less risky. This is because there are no hard-to-clean fractions such as tar and ash. According to calculations by the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL), 2,600 metric tons of cleaning agents and the emission of around 40 metric tons of chemicals can be saved every year in Germany alone. All in all, there are plenty of reasons for a safe workplace with CleanSmoke.