The best available technique for the decontamination of PCBs in transformer oils in service is the CDP Process® , designed, patented and used daily worldwide by Sea Marconi.

In Europe and internationally, the concept of best available technique (BAT) is defined in European Council Directive 96/61/EC as follows:

Best Available Techniques (BAT) means the most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their operation methods which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact on the environment as a whole:

• “ techniques ” shall include both the technology used and the way in which the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned;
• “ available techniques ” shall mean those techniques developed on a scale which allows implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used or produced inside the member state in question, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the operator; CLC/TR 50503:2010 - 8 -
• “ best ” shall mean most effective in achieving a high general level of protection of the environment as a whole

In Italy, through Ministerial Decree of 29 January 2007 (under No. 133 in the Official Gazette of 7 June 2007 No. 130) the Ministry of the Environment issued guidelines for the identification of Best Available Techniques (BATs) for the decontamination of equipment containing PCBs (Art. 3, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree 372/99).

The document clearly highlights how the CDP Process® , developed and patented by Sea Marconi, represents the best available technique existing on the market for PCB decontamination of transformers, both in service and those at end of life .