Eco-friendly disinfection technology developed in Korea is taking hold as a standard tool for protecting records and cultural assets around the world.
BioMist Technology, a company specializing in disinfection of records and cultural assets, said on the 21st that it will export the next-generation eco-friendly disinfection equipment for records, Bio Master X, to the National Archives of Oman in Nov.
The National Archives of Oman has been a long-term customer that has operated BioMist's existing equipment, Bio Master, for more than 10 years. The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of Oman has also introduced and is using the equipment. The two institutions will additionally introduce BioMist's new product, Bio Master X, in Nov.
In particular, with the past case of the sultan of Oman presenting Bio Master as an official gift to the king of Mauritania in Africa, some say this will serve as a catalyst for expanding trust in Korean-made disinfection systems among public institutions in the Middle East.
Bio Master X, newly unveiled by BioMist, is designed to complete the entire disinfection process in about five hours, compared with nitrogen treatment methods widely used at ancient document and cultural asset preservation sites that can take up to three weeks. It can quickly process urgent acquisitions and large collections to reduce bottlenecks in the field—what the company calls a "time innovation"—and touts as its core competitiveness a disinfection effect improved by about 700% over previous methods.
Bio Master X underwent verification by participating in the Seoul city test bed program last year. Experts including Yoon Dae-hyun, president of the Korea Records Association, Park Ji-seon, head of the Jeongjae Cultural Heritage Conservation Research Institute, and Park Hee-chang, former vice president of the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), took part as advisors, and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) jointly led development. Through an internationally accredited testing agency and Professor Na Ja-hyeon's team at Korea University, it completed tests for disinfection efficacy, post-disinfection material safety, and human safety, and it also obtained a proof-of-demonstration certificate issued by the Seoul mayor.
For about 30 years, BioMist has supplied Bio Master equipment and eco-friendly agents to Japan, Malaysia, the UAE, Oman, and Lithuania, building a track record at cultural asset and record heritage preservation sites.
Chief Executive Choi Yu-na of BioMist said, "Given that national archives and ministries of cultural heritage in each country, local governments, educational institutions, and other public bodies are adopting the Bio Master system for official work, independent domestic technology is establishing itself as the 'K-preservation' standard for protecting world heritage."