Toronto. Among the things I have learned about as an intern of the NATO Council of Canada is a Romanian product that could bring benefits to this organization and not only by preventing gas and oil from exploding, thus offering increased protection to the worldwide NATO troops either deployed or stationary. My today’s guest is Mr. George Draghia, a former conational who is working on bringing this product to Canada and the US .
Andreea Turcu (A.T.) : Welcome to our office!
George Draghia (G.D.) : Thank you for inviting me, You’ve got a nice place here!
A.T.: I would like to learn more about this product and how you came across it.
G.D. : I was shocked to experience the Sunrise Propane Tank Plant explosion in August 2008, when I was living in North York, close to the incident that rocked my building and lead to the evacuation of thousands of residents from over 12,000 homes, and lately the Lac Megantic derailment, fire and explosion that caused tremendous live loss, 47 innocent people dead, property loss and extensive environmental damage. Just one figure – CAD 400M, is the cleanup cost supported by our taxpayers. I figured there must be a solution, a way to protect ourselves against these kind of incidents. Given the fact marketing is both my great hobby and actual occupation I started looking for a product that would fit this profile and I am now proud to say that I have found it.
The product has been on the market for quite a while but it did not get the proper attention for various reasons, I would not go into details right now. I can say though that I have rediscovered it and I will do my best to make it available in North America.
A.T.: So Mr. Draghia, could you tell us what this product is and how does it work?
G.D.: Of course. The product that I am promoting is a passive mechanical product which when installed in a container increases its contact surface with a liquefied gas or fossil fuel up to 3000%. In case of a boiling, overheated or in flames fuel or gas in a container, it can prevent its rapid nucleation – averting the explosion by restricting the fast expansion of the lethal explosive mix of vapors, ready otherwise to blow up. In one sentence, it inhibits the process leading to a gas or oil explosion.
Its outstanding abilities to reduce the size of the flame and its growth together with the capacity of preventing the internal mixture of fuel, vapor and oxygen, a precursor to an upcoming explosion, is what makes it very efficient.
A.T. : So it is fair to say this product is always working ? If so, what are its limitations?
G.D.: That answer has been already addressed by professionals. One of them is Mr. Tudor Chereches, top expert in explosives and retired Army General. He ran numerous tests in military testing grounds and came up with various solutions to best implement the product in various Gas & Oil settings. I have watched videos showing fully filled up protected propane tanks that have their safety exhaust valve sealed and were cooked on a burning fuel bed and would not explode. The unprotected ones created a scary Myth Busters’ dangerous show. One thing that I have learned is that even if one throws a grenade at a protected propane tank, it would still not cause it to explode.
A.T.: Well, that is truly amazing! I can honestly say that I’m now realizing the potential of the product. Could you please tell us how is it installed, what is its life span and what are the warranties?
G.D.: It’s a single application protection system.” First it is fitted in a container/tank. Once installed there, it will last the life of the tank.
Its explosion suppression performance is produced by the filling material, a mass of specially designed alloy foil of low density. It only occupies between 1-1.5% of the total tank volume and weighs approximately 650 grams per 10 liters.
A.T. : Could you name some practical applications?
G.D: Mr. Costel Batista, a Romanian developer has been successfully implementing the product into propane tanks, army vehicles and gas stations. Globally it may be used by the oil and gas manufacturers and processors, oil and gas storage and transport companies, refineries and petrochemical plants. Whenever oil and gas is transported or transferred there are risk. This product completely eliminates these risks. Coming back to our world big issues, besides involuntary gas and oil accidents, there are others caused on purpose by terrorists or fanatics. We all know what happened on 9/11. Imagine that terrorists hijack or get control over a refinery, gas plant, a fuel or LNG transporting craft such as a train or boat, or even a small tanker truck and drive it into a building. What would the consequences be? Would we have an “undo” available button to reverse these acts?
Official statistics between 2000-2012 describe 459 train incidents including out of control trains rolling down mountains, across Canada-U.S. border and over 1000 incidents in Canada involving pipelines, that resulted in spill, fire and explosion.
A.T.: Since it is a delicate subject, I would like to further discuss the details regarding the pipeline incidents. Could you tell us a bit more about it?
G.D.: Of course. Another amazing fact about this product lies in its ability of being safely implemented in pipelines where in case of an incident can significantly reduce its size and impact on the environment by preventing major leakages into the soil and the rapid expansion of fire that can be put out swiftly and with no risk of explosion. It can also help extending the life of the pipeline by preventing corrosion and together with other safety products creating a perfect match for safely transporting gas and oil across continents. This safe way of putting out the fire can be used in any manufacturing and processing sites or while transporting and transferring gas and oil and other of its dangerous derivatives by rail/road tanker cars, trucks or vessels. Otherwise, in case of fire, the fire department usually secures the area and wait for the fire to die down, even let the explosion occur due to the high risks posed by intervening during this type of events. Using the product, the fire can be put out safely and rapidly.
A.T. : Probably the most important fact about the product is its safeness and the impact it could have nowadays. Are there any other observations you would like to make?
G.D: Yes, there are. I want to make it very clear that this product could bring a win-win situation to North America by protecting the life and the environment, protecting the livelihoods of the communities where the transport of Oil and Gas passes through by road, rail or pipeline, peace of mind for the population. And not to forget the benefits for the insurance companies. Last but not least it protects all the vehicles and crafts whether civilian or military from exploding. This is why I strongly recommend it.
A.T: Well, this product is definitely the answer to many of the world’s problems in terms of security. Looking forward to watch its evolution! I thank you very much Mr. Draghia, it has been a pleasure interviewing you!
G.D: Thank you, mine as well!
