Controlling pests, e.g. insects, in e.g. mills, museums or silos

摘要

A method for controlling pests in works of art, stored materials or parts of machines or buildings, which are built into, placed in or stored in a treatment enclosure (TE) (e.g. a church, museum, mill, silo, store or food processing plant) involves sealing TE to prevent loss of gas and gassing with a treatment gas consisting of air and hydrogen cyanide, by feeding HCN into TE, allowing the HCN to contact the pests for a specific period and aerating TE. The novelty is that part of the treatment gas is removed from TE (continuously or during most of the contact and/or aeration period) and supplied to an apparatus or reactor (A/R) in which the HCN content is eliminated. At least the majority of the (almost) HCN-free effluent air is then released into the environment. TE is kept under reduced pressure during most of the contact and/or aeration period. Claimed apparatus for the process comprises TE (1) having an air outlet (8) to A/R (9). A line (10) leading from A/R (9) opens into a line (11) connected to the atmosphere and a line (6) connected to TE.