Nanogate and its cooperation
partner ALRON, a Swedish manufacturer of special chemical products for the construction
industry, have been awarded a prestigious contract by the city of Stockholm.
In the city’s Södra Länken tunnel system, which is about 16
km long in total, all of the exposed concrete is to be coated using Nanogate
Technology®. NanoGuard®StoneProtect will reduce dirt adhesion significantly,
making cleaning much easier. The operator will thereby incur lower cleaning
costs and be able to reduce considerably the use of environmentally harmful
cleaning agents.
The Södra Länken tunnel system is the largest in Sweden and the largest
city tunnel in Europe. Constant exhaust fume pollution forces the operators
of the tunnel, the sides and ceiling of which are clad in exposed concrete,
to undertake cleaning operations regularly at great effort and expense. In addition,
traffic must be diverted during cleaning, which leads to considerable indirect
costs and imposes a major burden on Stockholm’s entire traffic system,
its inhabitants and, not least, the environment.
Coating reduces dirt adhesion significantly. The tunnel will no longer need
to be cleaned as frequently and aggressive cleaning agents can be largely dispensed
with. Simple water treatment is all that is needed to clean the dirt from the
concrete. Even highly stubborn grime is easier to remove. The markedly reduced
dirt adhesion will improve road safety in the tunnel as the exposed concrete
can serve as a reflecting surface once more. The project’s sales potential
runs into low-end six-digit figures.
For Ralf Zastrau, CEO of Nanogate AG, the contract is a signal. “This
key order from Stockholm shows that we are ahead internationally with our Nanogate
coating system and that our technology has opened up another new market,”
he said. “Among other things, the NanoGuard® product family makes
an attractive contribution in the increasingly important area of ‘green
nanotechnology’.”