The history of Sea Marconi begins in 1968 and is characterised by very important events and discoveries in the field of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxins. We recall, for example, the notorious case of Seveso in 1976, the objectives of the Stockholm Convention on POPs and the coming challenges of the 21st century.
Sea Marconi's modus operandi is an integrated approach to the management of oil and PCBs in electrical equipment such as transformers, which are strategic elements in the production, transport, distribution and use of electricity in the world. In this context, Sea Marconi has been a key player in designing pioneering solutions at worldwide level and contributing to the drafting of standards and laws (domestic and international) which, through the efforts of Sea Marconi, now include procedures and techniques capable of giving really effective "sustainable" responses for the environment and public health.
Milestones
1979 – With CODEC-PCB, Sea Marconi offers integrated solutions for the inventory, controlled possession, management and decontamination of equipment with PCB
1982 – First CDP Process® patented by Sea Marconi for the decontamination of equipment with dehalogenation/detoxification of PCB, PCDD-dioxins, PCDF-furans
1983 – First in the world to validate experimentally with great success, in the laboratory and in the field, the dehalogenation and detoxification of the most dangerous dioxin known, the so-called Seveso dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD tetrachlorodibenzodioxin). The discovery was made by the Department of Environmental Sciences under Prof. Sergio Facchetti at ISPRA's European Common Research Centre (CRC).
Sea Marconi was a global pioneer in the in-field validation of the CDP Process® on components highly contaminated by the "Seveso dioxin" (2,3,7,8 TCDD) given off by the explosion in 1976 at the A101 reactor, department B of ICMESA spa in Meda (Milan)*.
A summary of the results of this application were officially presented at the conference held in Milan on 20-22 September 1984. Additional applications at industrial level have been gradually presented in Europe and the United States (e.g. attach articles).
1984 – Starting from 1984, the CDP Process® has been improved with further international patents and applied in over 50 countries.
2007 – The CDP Process® is classified by the Ministry of Environment (Min. Decree 29/01/2007) as Best Available Technology for the decontamination of equipment with PCBs, in particular of transformers contaminated by PCBs in service even under load.
TODAY – The CDP Process® is classified as BAT (Best Available Technology)/BEP (Best Environmental Practice) in UNIDO international projects, funded by the GEF, to support developing countries in achieving the objectives of the Stockholm Convention. These countries include, for example, Mongolia and Macedonia, for which Sea Marconi has supplied an advanced plant for the decontamination of oil contaminated with PCBs.
With the same principles, Sea Marconi has developed the "PCB-Free Programme", which is being applied in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. It is an integrated solution (inventory services, control and monitoring with analyses and diagnoses; decontamination procedures and technologies) finalised towards the life cycle management (LCM) and decontamination of transformers and oils with PCBs.
In the battle against dioxin and PCBs, Sea Marconi can be defined in its own right as an example of excellence in innovation, taking its "sustainable solutions" from Italy to the whole of the rest of the world.