Periodic inspections
Biogas facilities
- § 15 Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (ex protection)
- Water right tests
- §29 a of the safety inspections ordinance
- Individual emission measurements
- § 15 Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (ex protection)
Areas of biogas plants and work equipment endangered by explosion must be designed so that the people who are working there are protected.
Explosion zones, for example, are areas at a distance of up to three meters to the gas storage tank with a foil enclosure. The operator is required to provide a written explosion protection document describing the required explosion protection precautions that were determined during a risk assessment. In this case, the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV) serves as the legal basis.
Systems requiring monitoring, such as biogas plants, must be tested for compliance with the security standards according to § 14 of the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health prior to initial commissioning or following a major modification. The recurring inspection (§ 15 of the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health) must be carried out every three years. TÜV NORD, as your reliable safety partner, offers you the following inspections:
- We examine the ex protection document and its amendments
- We examine whether the installation was carried out in line with the explosion protection document
- We examine whether the equipment is suitable for use in potentially explosive atmospheres
- We inspect the proper installation, the installation conditions, and the safe function
Search words and keywords: Operational Safety Ordinance, BetrSichV, explosion protection, ex protection document, areas endangered by explosion, recurring testing
- Water right tests
To guarantee the comprehensive safety of systems and the environment, biogas systems must be designed and operated so that no water-harming substances can escape. This requires leak identification for containers and pipelines. Water-harming substances in biogas systems include heating oil, diesel, lubricant/old oil, liquid manure silage and, in part, substrates. TÜV NORD guarantees the highest safety standards and inspects in accordance with the directive on systems for handling water-harming substances (VAwS), including the site, substrate containers, pipelines, lubricant, old oil and silage storage systems.
Our range of VAwS testing services covers:
- Specialist operating certification
- Approved facilities (containers, pipelines, building materials, operating resources,…)
- Technical regulations
- Requirements in the licensing notice
Search words and keywords:
Ordinance on systems for handling substances hazardous to water, water rights, substances hazardous to water, leak identification
▪ §29 a of the safety inspections ordinance
Biogas plants that have or exceed a specific storage capacity and / or in which the motors employed have or exceed a specific rating require licensing.
According to the Federal Immission Control Act (§29a), an operator of a plant requiring a license can be required by the authorities to have specific safety-related inspections on plants and examinations of the safety-related documentation conducted by a disclosed expert.
We provide you with comprehensive support: from the first consultation concerning plant planning to inspections prior to the initial commissioning of plants through to the recurring inspections.
We assume the comprehensive inspection (§29a of the Federal Immission Control Act) for the following areas:
- Safety concept
- Construction / installation
- Safety-oriented control systems
- Explosion protection concepts
- Certificates / test records
- Organisation / personnel
- Requirements of the licensing notice
Search words and keywords: Federal Immission Control Act, §29a of the Federal Immission Control Act, safety-related inspections, explosion protection concepts
▪ Individual emission measurements
Operators of biogas plants must have the concentration of individual materials or materials in plant emissions determined. This is regulated by conditions that appear in the licensing notice or it is required by public authorities. Individual measurements also serve as proof of compliance with prescribed limit values for guaranteeing the respective bonuses stipulated in the renewable energies law.
We are able to guarantee that these measurements are carried out smoothly and give you a meaningful result.
Because measurement planning is closely coordinated with you and the public authorities, you are guaranteed a resilient measurement result. The measurement process is coordinated with the production requirements.
Which services do we offer?
- Individual emission measurements in accordance with § 26 Federal Imission Control Act (BImSchG)
What sets us apart?
- We are a recognized measurement centre in accordance with §§ 26, 28 of the Federal Imission Control Act (BImSchG) for measuring a broad spectrum of material groups.
