F O O D
BOGE
BLUEPROTECT
The number of starving people in the
world is increasing. But at the same
time large amounts of grains are going
to waste on the way to the consumer.
It is in the poorer regions of the world in particular
that the greatest losses arise shortly after
harvesting.
To provide better protection from pests for grain
stored in silos, compressed air specialist BOGE
has developed a method that is as simple as it is
effective. With blueprotect, BOGE uses nitrogen
from the ambient air. This removes the oxygen
from the silo and therefore takes away the means
of survival for pests and fungi. The method is
carried out without any chemical agents and is
therefore harmless in food production and does
not cause environmental damage. It is therefore
suitable for organically cultivated products and
brewery suppliers, for example.
Granary weevils, parasitic fungi, mice and rats:
a large part of the grain stored worldwide falls
victim to pests and so-called breathing losses.
Oxygen plays a critical part in this. Lack of oxygen
minimises storage losses. blueprotect is based on
this simple principle. BOGE feeds a mix of gases
into the grain silos - consisting of almost pure
nitrogen with a maximum of one per cent residual
oxygen. The nitrogen drives out the oxygen,
thereby removing aerobes, and thus the means of
survival for pests and fungi. At the same time, the
effect of breathing losses is minimised, and the
risk of smouldering fires is decreased.
For blueprotect, BOGE uses nitrogen from the
ambient air. A compressor produces compressed
air close to the silo. It reaches a membrane filter
via a dryer and combined filter, which separates
the nitrogen (N2) from the oxygen (O2) and feeds
it into the silo. As a main component of the air we
breathe, nitrogen is available in unlimited supplies,
and is completely harmless when in contact with
foodstuffs. After use, the nitrogen is re-absorbed
into the ambient air. This makes blueprotect
an attractive method of pest control wherever
the use of chemical agents is not permitted or
desirable – for example, in ecological farming or
in the supply chain for breweries. Malting plants,
for instance, have to ensure that no chemical
residues are left behind in the barley; these could
later find their way into the beer with the malt
when brewing.
The processing is straightforward for the
user: BOGE arranges all plant components in
a container, so that blueprotect can be placed
flexibly, without special prior knowledge and
in different types of silos. BOGE analyses the
starting position with the customer to record
the initial nitrogen requirement. An essential
precondition is a sufficiently airtight silo. For a test
run, BOGE offers a rental container if required by
the customer, with which the airtightness of the
silo can be clearly ascertained after a few days.
PROTECTION FROM PESTS IN
GRAIN STORAGE
BOGE places all components together in a container. blueprotect can
therefore be deployed flexibly and in different types of silo
68 May 2019