papersave swiss Massenentsäuerungsanlage - Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen aus 4 Jahren Betrieb

Mass deacidification is the only possibility to preserve large stocks of written cultural heritage in the original form. In the last 4 years of service 350 tons of books and archival material were deacidified in the papersave swiss plant in Wimmis; thus conserved for future generations. Thorough initial experiments showed that the papersave swiss treatment can be operated reproducibly – all documents are deacidified homogeneously in all three dimensions of space. The lifetime of the documents is increased by at least a factor of 4 through the treatment. Almost a 100 % of the information has been conserved in the original form, over 95 % of the treated materials did not show any signs of visible damage. Recent studies revealed a sterilising effect of the process