CURIUM has safely transferred 14 tons of Vinyl Chloride Monomer from an old tank car in the Republic of North Macedonia

CURIUM was commissioned to manage a historic waste product that had been stored for more than 20 years at a run-down chemical production site in North Macedonia. As a part of the project for disposal of chemical substances from OHIS production sites and plants in Skopje, a Macedonian company entrusted CURIUM with a transfer of 14 tons of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) from an old tank car to ADR-approved containers.

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VCM, a toxic and extremely flammable product, is gaseous at ambient temperature and pressure. It was stored in a tank car which could not be transported due to advanced state of corrosion. CURIUM was responsible for transferring the VCM from the old tank wagon to an ADR-compliant road tank for transport to a disposal facility in Germany.

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The conditioning of the VCM took place in three stages : transfer of liquid phase, followed by transfer of gaseous phase, and finally complete inerting of the old tank with nitrogen in order to eliminate all residues. The operation was subject to a preliminary hazards assessment study, which determined specific personal protection equipment and prevention measures to be implemented, taking into account a proximity of habitations. In addition, the atmosphere around the tank was continuously monitored for leak detection. No harmful gases were released into the environment during the transfer of VCM. At the end of the operation, a manhole of the old tank was opened.

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During the 9 days operation, the State Environmental Authority carried out two site inspection visits, confirming that all safety regulations were being applied. Two other audits of the site had been carried out by an external HSE expert and by a representative of OHIS.

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