June 14, 2024
Vestergaard Company wants to promote a circular perspective on glycol consumption. We have worked on several solutions to make this more attractive to our customers. One of the current solutions is our Glycol Recovery Vehicle (GRV), which energy-efficiently collects the glycol after use. Another solution is a system mounted on the unit for mixing certified deicing glycol.
Today, the use of glycol for deicing follows a linear flow in most cases. The raw glycol is chemically produced, transported and heated. These processes emit large amounts of CO2. The glycol is then used together with water for the deicing of aircraft. After use, the fluid used is discharged for wastewater treatment or directly to watercourses, where it is biologically degraded. The degrading process is cost-intensive in terms of CO2, as the glycol is mainly degraded into CO2, which is emitted into the atmosphere.
The following average figures for a deicing of a standard narrow-body aircraft are based on more than 80,000 deicing operations over four years at four different airports on two continents.
Vestergaard Company would like to contribute to the process becoming more circular. In the circular flow used in this example, 70% of the used glycol is collected and recycled. This saves both CO2 in relation to the extraction of raw glycol and the disposal of the used glycol. The linear flow consumes 628 kg of CO2 per deicing operation, whereas the circular flow consumes 395 kg of CO2, i.e. a reduction of 38%.
In addition to the environmental benefit, recycling also provides significant economic benefits. These years, the gain has been boosted by the rising prices of glycol and disposal.
