BWI: Crowcon Carbon Dioxide Detectors Keep Workers Safe in Italian Winery

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Crowcon
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 09:30 AM IST (04:00 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Environment; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Chemicals, Energy companies, Water; Technology
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Crowcon Carbon Dioxide Detectors Keep Workers Safe in Italian Winery
CellarSafe and Xgard Fixed CO2 Detectors Monitor Gas Levels in Cellars

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- The Selvapiana winery in Italy's Tuscany region is using Crowcon's CellarSafe and Xgard fixed CO2 gas detectors to protect workers in the winery's cellars. The units were installed by Parsec S.r.l., a company which works closely with Crowcon in the Italian wine industry.

Photo: http://www.halmapr.com/crowcon/Selvapiana.jpg (817 KB)

CO2 is a by-product of the fermentation process and, because it is heavier than air, it can spill out of fermenting tanks and sink to the winery floor, where it forms deadly, invisible pockets. Workers cleaning grape skins out of fermenting tanks are also in danger, as any remaining CO2 can deplete oxygen in the tanks to dangerously low levels. In fact, CO2 is a hazard throughout the winemaking (and brewing) process - right through to packaging and distribution. Long term exposure to as little 0.5% volume CO2 represents a toxic health hazard, while concentrations greater than 10% volume can lead to death. Its effective monitoring is therefore absolutely essential.

At Selvapiana two CellarSafe CO2 detectors and one Xgard CO2 detector are installed in the winery's cellars. The CellarSafe units provide two levels of protection: firstly, if CO2 concentrations exceed a certain threshold, extractor fans are automatically triggered; secondly, an 82dB alarm is triggered to warn workers to vacate the cellar immediately. The Xgard detector is linked to a Parsec SAEn5000 control unit that constantly displays ambient CO2 levels on a computer screen in the control room.

Commenting on the installation, Parsec's Leo Forte said, "The owners of Selvapiana take the safety of their workers extremely seriously and wanted the best and most reliable CO2 monitoring systems available. We did not hesitate to recommend Crowcon detectors for this installation - we are specialists in cellar design and we know from experience what does and doesn't work. Since the installation we and the winery owners have been very satisfied with the performance of the Crowcon detectors."

Selvapiana is a typical Tuscan wine farm consisting of the owner's villa, the cellars and other buildings - now no longer used - such as the oil mill, the granary and the joiner's workshop. In the Middle Ages, there were two towers at the centre of the estate, which may have been watchtowers or part of a small castle. Today they are incorporated within the buildings added in later periods (particularly during the Renaissance).

More information on Crowcon's safety products for wineries and breweries can be found at www.crowcon.com. A copy of the company's new Winery and Brewery Industry brochure can also be obtained by e-mailing sales@crowcon.com.

About Crowcon

Crowcon, a subsidiary of Halma p.l.c., is a world leader in portable and fixed gas detection instruments. Formed in 1970, the company is based in Oxfordshire in the UK and has branch offices in the Netherlands, the USA, Singapore and China. It specialises in developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative, reliable and cost-effective flammable and toxic gas detection equipment and has constantly led the field with products designed for safety and environmental monitoring.

Crowcon's products are sold throughout the world, serving oil, gas and petrochemical companies, public utilities, food and beverage facilities, clean water and sewage treatment companies, fire brigades, construction companies and other organisations where accidental leakage of gas or vapour can become a toxic or explosive danger. The company is represented in India by Detection Instruments Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai (www.detection-india.com).

About Halma

Halma is an international market leader in safety, health and sensor technology. It is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange and has over 4000 employees in over 40 subsidiaries worldwide with a total turnover of over US$742m (2009). Halma's subsidiaries make products that protect lives and improve the quality of life for people through innovation in market leading products which make its customers safer, more competitive and more profitable. These subsidiaries are assisting India's economy in areas such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, water and waste treatment, construction and transport.

For further news about Halma in India and to subscribe to the Halma India RSS News Feed please visit our blog at: http://halmapr.com/news/india/.

Crowcon head office contact details:
Crowcon Detection Instruments Ltd
2 Blacklands Way, Abingdon Business Park
Abingdon OX14 1DY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 557700, Fax: +44 (0) 1235 557718
E-mail: sales@crowcon.com
Website: www.crowcon.com


CONTACT DETAILS
Kishore Degwekar, Managing Director, Detection Instruments Pvt. Ltd., +91 (22) 2761 7663 / 64 / 65 / 66, general@detection-india.com / sales@detection-india.com
Damian Corbet, Halma PR Services, +44 (0)20 8511 1821, dcorbet@halmapr.com

KEYWORDS
ENVIRONMENT, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, CHEMICALS, ENERGY, WATER, TECHNOLOGY

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