Abstract
Industrie De Nora SpA, a provider of electrodes and coatings for electrochemical processes, is helping to fight against the spread of coronavirus.
In Italy, the company is supporting the efforts of the Civil Protection Department by deploying four electrochlorination systems to “red zones” in Codogno, 70 km (about 44 miles) south of Milan.
These systems produce sodium hypochlorite, a chlorine equivalent that is suitable for the disinfection of hard surfaces and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is effective against the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus.
De Nora says that one of the advantages of on-site electrochlorination systems is that they do not require or generate hazardous chemicals and there is no need for transportation of high-concentration bleach, so safety is never compromised.
De Nora electrochlorination systems produce sodium hypochlorite using DSA® electrodes, invented by Oronzio De Nora, the company's founder, in the 1970s.
On-side sodium hypochlorite generators are used worldwide for a variety of applications, ranging from drinking water treatment to microbiological control in cooling towers, using a simple saline solution (water and salt) and electricity to produce chlorine-based disinfectant.
The company has already provided similar systems in China, Japan and Singapore for the sanitisation and disinfection of offices and production sites in response to COVID-19 outbreaks. The city of Nankang is using two systems supplied by De Nora, originally for water purification, to aid in the disinfection of buildings and other public areas.
In 2019, De Nora launched its next generation of ClorTec® on-site sodium hypochlorite generators (Membrane Technology, October 2019, page 2). The latest high-efficiency ClorTec Gen III system uses an optimised electrochlorination process that reduces salt and power consumption to deliver a 15% operating cost savings over the previous ClorTec DN Gen II system (Membrane Technology, November, 2018, page 3).
For further information, visit: www.denora.com