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Expert reports: air pollutants, explosion protection, fire protection

The engineering office SHN in Chemnitz is your competent partner for a variety of expert reports, such as:

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COURT AND PARTY REPORTS AS PUBLICLY APPOINTED AND SWORN EXPERT

The engineering office SHN in Chemnitz produce expert opinions in the field of air pollution control in industry, trade and agriculture.

We have been active on the German and international market since 1991. The guiding principles of corporate culture are presented in the Quality Management Manual. All employees contribute to the continuous process of quality and corporate principles and the continuous improvement.

The certificate “Consulting Engineer” of the Chamber of Engineers of Saxony underlines the independence of suppliers.

Working as a publicly appointed and sworn expert requires independence from suppliers, objective evaluation of companies, technology and procedures in party reports, arbitration reports and court reports.

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EMISSION AND IMISSION REPORTS FOR AIR POLLUTANTS, ODOURS, NOISE

Air pollution control in industry, trade and agriculture

We calculate emissions from industrial and commercial plants. Databases for collected sources (fireplaces) of comparable plants, legal limit values and flow specifications or calculations are used for this purpose. For diffuse emissions, the calculation is based on VDI 3790.

In addition, we also offer you the propagation calculation according to TA Luft 2002 Annex 3 in order to record the immission situation of objects worthy of protection according to § 5 BImSchG. Immission sites can be residential buildings, other commercial uses as well as nature (e. g. pollutant inputs into the soil, environmental impact assessment, FFH compatibility assessment). These immission calculations allow a well-founded assessment of the permissibility of investments (new building or modernization or capacity expansion as a major change).

In order to represent the wind situation at the site, we integrate the services of the German Weather Service into the processing of the reports. For a very good approximation to the expected future conditions, we examine and take into account the local orography (site structure), the influence of local wind fields on the flow around buildings or the effect of cold air drains.

Air pollution control in indoor spaces

Due to our increased sensitivity to indoor air quality, we also offer expert opinions for the determination and evaluation of indoor air pollutants. To determine the measurement program, we visit and monitor the site and consult the parties involved (tenants, landlords, employees, employers, etc. ). To carry out the measurement and analysis, we engage accredited measuring institutes and evaluate the results. In the field of organic air pollutants, screening has proven its worth, which presents the detection and quantitative analysis of several hundred organic compounds as a result of sampling.

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EXPLOSION PROTECTION EXPERT OPINION

Irrespective of the number of employees, the employer must, within the scope of his duties (see § 3 above), Operational Safety Ordinance – BetrSichV) ensure that an explosion protection document is drawn up and kept up to date (see § 6 BetrSichV). The explosion protection document shall show:

  • that the explosion hazards have been identified and assessed
  • that appropriate arrangements are made to ensure that the objectives of explosion protection are met, including:
  • for which areas zones have been defined (Zone 0, Zone 1 and Zone 2, or Zone 20, Zone 21 and Zone 22)
  • in which areas the minimum requirements of Annex 4 of the BetrSichV are to be applied.

An explosion protection document must be drawn up before work commences and must be reviewed when changes, extensions or alterations are made to the equipment or the work process.

We have already created explosion protection documents for a large number of objects and would like to assist you in your particular application.

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SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

The aim here is to protect people and property and the environment as a whole from the risks posed by accidents. This objective is served, among other things, by safety assessments to ensure plant and process safety as well as accident prevention.

  • Expert activity in the sense of v. safety assessments
  • Safety tests of plants within the scope of § 29a para. 1 BImSchG
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EXPERT OPINION ON FIRE SAFETY

Already during the planning of a measure, the fire protection aspects for the specific object have to be considered and the necessary measures can be derived. A measure in this sense is not just the construction of a new building. A change in fire loads, e. g. by increasing stock quantities in existing buildings, may also constitute a change in use in the sense of building law. This has to be considered both in terms of approval law and fire protection.

If a measure is not a “special construction” within the meaning of building law, the fire safety requirements / specifications are generally determined by a fire safety certificate. In the case of “special constructions”, a holistic view of the fire protection aspects is required for the specific application. The tool for this is the creation of fire protection concepts.

In the fire protection concept, the specific needs of the object must be determined and the necessary fire protection measures must be derived. This involves a number of aspects such as building structure, construction of the building, use of the building or individual parts of the building, number of people in the building, fire loads in the building, fire protection infrastructure in the building, but also around the building.

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EXPERT OPINION ON GERMS AND BIOAEROSOLS

The possible health effects of emissions of airborne microorganisms (bioaerosols) on residents in the vicinity of emitting plants have been controversial for some time.

The focus is on the allergenic, toxic and infectious risks associated with inhalation of bioaerosols:

  • Bioaerosols can be emitted from various industrial plants such as waste treatment plants and animal farms and transported into the environment. The distance to the plant depends on a number of factors, such as the strength of the emission source, wind direction and speed, and air temperature. The survival (tenacity) of the various airborne microorganisms also plays a decisive role.
  • Under certain conditions, bioaerosol-emitting plants require a permit and monitoring according to the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG). According to T A Luft (First General Administrative Regulation to the BImSchG) the possibilities of reducing the emissions of germs and endotoxins by means of appropriate measures according to the state of the art have to be examined. Complaints from residents are also increasingly raising the issue of possible exposure to bioaerosols.
  • From the few environmental epidemiological studies carried out so far, there are indications that bioaerosols are affected in the environment of such plants. Occupational medicine has knowledge of an increased incidence of bioaerosol-related respiratory diseases in workers. However, the findings of occupational medicine are not transferable, or only to a very limited extent, to the general population, including the sensitive groups of people it contains.
  • There are currently no recognised impact assessment criteria with which bioaerosol emissions can be compared and the possible resulting health effects can be assessed.

SHN can estimate the emissions and calculate the resulting immissions and evaluate the results together with the competent authorities.

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RISK ASSESSMENT 42. BImSchV i. V. m. VDI 2047-2

In accordance with § 3 (4) and § 6 of the 42nd BImSchV, the operator of evaporative cooling systems and cooling towers must ensure that certain activities for the system are carried out by a hygienically competent person prior to commissioning or re-commissioning (already after 7 days of plant shutdown). We support you from cadastral registration to hazard assessment, risk analysis and risk assessment as well as in the production of the operational diary in accordance with the requirements of the 42nd Directive. BImSchV.