Gefährliches lagert bestens in Produkten aus Eugendorf

Hazardous substances can be found in almost every manufacturing company. Denios from Salzburg ensures safe storage.

After a fire in a large chemical factory in Switzerland almost 40 years ago, the young engineer Helmut Dennig had a vision: Never again should the ground, soil or water, whether rivers or groundwater, be contaminated by chemical leaks or contaminated fire-fighting water. This vision gave rise to Denios, which has become the market leader with products for the safe storage of hazardous substances, both indoors (e.g. hazardous substances and safety cabinets) and outdoors (fire-protected hazardous substance storage containers). Under the leadership of CEO Erich Humenberger, Denios, headquartered in Eugendorf in Salzburg, has been ranked in the top three in the business competition “Austria’s Leading Companies” for the past 15 years.

As a layman, I occasionally take my hazardous waste to a collection point. Why does Denios need hazardous waste storage in the industrial sector?
Erich Humenberger: In principle, we are only active in the b2b sector. Collection points that fall under the responsibility of municipalities are therefore also indirectly among our customers. Our clientele is mainly found in manufacturing companies. Pretty much, every company uses hazardous substances – be it in production as operating materials, as additives or as raw materials. The word hazardous substance sounds daunting at first, which is why many people think primarily of very dangerous substances. However, even normal lubricants, motor oils or hydraulic oils fall into this category because they are hazardous to water. Chemicals, which are mainly used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as flammable substances such as paints and varnishes or gases for welding or as propellants in classic spray cans are also hazardous substances. As such, they must be stored in companies in a safe, legally compliant and environmentally friendly manner. We have the right products for the storage of hazardous substances of all kinds, such as spill trays. Drums with water-polluting liquids, for example, are placed in or on these. We also produce fire protection cabinets in which flammable liquids such as paints, varnishes, nitro thinners or spray cans can be stored directly at the workplace and are thus always at hand.

Everyone is likely to have many of these hazardous substances, such as spray cans at home and they are available in every drugstore.
Humenberger: A commercial enterprise and the manufacturing industry is subject to strict legal requirements. For the storage of flammable liquids, for example, there is a set of rules (VbF - Ordinance on Flammable Liquids) that stipulates exactly how and in what quantities a company may store these substances. In the private sector, these regulations are completely irrelevant. In the new version of the VbF, which has been in force since March 2023, trade has now been included in many areas. In the past, for example, a large quantity of highly flammable windscreen cleaners was stacked in the salesroom, accessible to the public. A commercial enterprise, on the other hand, would not have been allowed to store such quantities in this way.

How does a hazardous materials storage system work?
Humenberger: In principle, almost all liquid hazardous materials are also hazardous to water. All our safety cabinets, or in larger dimensions our safety containers, have an integrated catch basin at the bottom, where every weld seam is tested. This ensures that leaking liquids do not enter the ground, but the tray. A double frame system is used for the fire protection containers, consisting of solid inner frames and an outer frame made of steel. Between them are at least ten-centimetre-thick insulation panels made of non-combustible rock wool. This insulates so well that in the event of a fire from the outside, only the outer frame or the outside of the insulation panels become hot and the insulation inside the container keeps it cool. Cool means that it must take longer than 90 minutes for the internal temperature to reach 200 degrees Celsius at any point. This is relatively cold for steel, so the inner frame is statically strong, even if the strength of the outer frame is reduced in a massive fire. If there is a fire inside the container, it works the other way round.
fire detector is installed inside the container to detect heat and smoke. If the fire detector goes off, it sends a signal to the control unit. The control unit switches off the electrical door holding magnets, so that the doors close automatically and in sequence if they are still open. Of course, the doors are also fire-resistant for 90 minutes. At the same time, the control system switches off the technical ventilation of the container. At a temperature of about 60 degrees, the door seals automatically foam up and seal the doors. Also temperature- controlled, the fire dampers on the ventilation openings close. The container is then hermetically sealed. This applies to fires both inside and outside the container. This gives the fire brigade enough time for a targeted extinguishing attack.

How does a hazardous materials storage system work?
Humenberger: For small batteries used in everyday life, such as those found in gardening tools or tools like cordless screwdrivers, drills etc., or even bicycle batteries that already have a little more power, we offer fire protection cabinets for safe storage and charging. They are also fire-protected for 90 minutes. The danger of a used battery catching fire is greatest during charging. In a craft business, charging probably takes place in the workshop overnight. Our SmartStore safety cabinets are equipped with sockets inside for this purpose, so that the batteries are stored safely and charged at the same time. If a battery burns down during charging in the cabinet, the workshop is protected. This safety aspect makes our lithium-ion charging cabinets a very popular product.

Your energy storage systems were recently launched on the market.
Humenberger: This is all about economic sustainability and green electricity. Our existing, walk-in fire protection containers are up to eight metres long, three metres high and three metres wide. In cooperation with the company Tesvolt, we build batteries and inverters into them, so that companies with large photovoltaic systems can store the surplus energy. We call our product, the fire-protected energy storage system, Power-Safe. This is a plug-and-play solution that can be used, for example, to cushion expensive peak loads or to cover part of the base load.

What made Denios one of the world’s largest providers of hazardous material storage solutions?
Humenberger: Our founder started out in Germany with collection trays and occupied the niche of environmentally compliant hazardous material storage. After that, the product range was expanded steadily. We differ from other suppliers in some areas, as we have our own production facilities and can offer individual, tailor-made solutions for our customers. In addition, we produce everything from catch basins and safety cabinets to fire protection containers ourselves. In sales, another USP is our expert advice, regardless of whether it is a simple collection tray or a large hazardous materials storage facility. We are a one-stop shop from the initial consultation to the installation and later maintenance of the hazardous materials storage facility – a carefree package, so to speak.

Do you supply customers worldwide?
Humenberger: Yes, apart from the current politically induced delivery restrictions. Denios is represented throughout Europe, either with production or sales. In addition, we produce in the USA for North America and Canada, and in China for the Chinese market

Can you be sustainable in your costly production? Is a circular economy even possible in your field?
Humenberger: Our collection trays are mostly made of steel or polyethylene, or in special cases stainless steel. The systems are also made of standard steel and rock wool panels. Our materials are therefore quite normal basic materials. In the Catalogue Products area, we offer our customers more and more carbon-neutral products and for years have been awarded the Eco Vadis seal for sustainability in the supply chain. As a climate-neutral company, Denios focuses on many measures to keep its carbon footprint as small as possible
Denios also initiates environmental protection projects outside its own sites. Under the motto ‘Environment for the next generation’, our apprentices and students have joined forces and act as ambassadors for sustainable action.

What does a digital hazardous materials storage system look like? Is real-time monitoring necessary?
Humenberger: We call the product in which we digitise the container DeniosConnect. This allows the customer to permanently monitor all relevant status data, such as the interior temperature or “Our safety cabinets are equipped with sockets on the inside; batteries are thus stored and charged safely.” Erich Humenberger “Denios connect” is a cloud-based web app for monitoring. © Denios World Champion Austria Denios 162_163 measurements of the liquid sensor in the collection tray. We can install a wide range of sensors, whose signals are combined and transmitted to the customer’s end device via a cloud-based web application. If there are any abnormalities in the container, there are different warning levels up to an alarm. The customer has a permanent overview and automatic documentation. Where temperature-critical aggregates are stored, for example in the food or pharmaceutical industry, a certain temperature range must be maintained. It is eminently important for a drug manufacturer, for example, to be able to seamlessly document the correct storage or the storage conditions. This automatic documentation is one of the main benefits for the customer.

What was the most complicated task you faced?
Humenberger: That’s hard to say, because large parts of the automotive industry and almost the entire chemical industry in Western Europe are our customers. We built a decontamination container for a university in Bavaria, where radioactivity was involved. For a university in western Austria, we not only equipped the laboratory with fire protection cabinets, but also built an outdoor hazardous materials storage facility. Or, a few years ago, a hazardous materials storage facility consisting of several individual containers connected to each other by locks for a very large hospital in eastern Austria. You can work with various substances in these containers like in a laboratory

When will the container for the archetypical evil mother-in-law arrive?
Humenberger: Since we are exclusively operating in the b2b sector and this is a requirement from the b2c sector, it does not fall within our field of business. (laughs)