Climate activists glue themselves to a taxiway at Cologne-Bonn Airport, flights suspended

Police said five people glued themselves to a taxiway at the airport early in the morning, German news agency dpa reported. Flights were suspended for about three hours from about 5:45 a.m. while officers worked to remove the protesters.

Hmm. Three hours seems like a long time.

investigates

https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/people/2023/06/16/how-police-go-about-freeing-activists-glued-to-the-road

After a long period of testing different substances, including on themselves, the officers now swear by a mixture of cooking oil and soapy water.

They only use stronger agents like acetone – a solvent used in nail polish remover for example – in emergencies, due to health risks.

Luckily, most activists refrain from using more powerful two-component adhesives which often require a trip to the hospital with a gouged-out piece of tarmac stuck to the hand.

Every few minutes, police chief Can Palabiyik pours warm water over the hand glued to the paving stone, which cools down surprisingly quickly in the cold air and takes on a purple hue.

Kneeling on pads, the officers usually spend between 30 minutes and about an hour patiently brushing away, depending on the nature of the substrate and the amount of adhesive used.

considers

I wonder if it'd be possible to speed that up by making use of a pressure washer, to rapidly force more solvent into contact with the adhesive and increase the speed at which the solvent interacts with the adhesive?