You are here:
SOURCE ASSESSMENT: RECLAIMING OF WASTE SOLVENTS, STATE OF THE ART
Citation:
Tierney, D. AND T. Hughes. SOURCE ASSESSMENT: RECLAIMING OF WASTE SOLVENTS, STATE OF THE ART. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-78/004F.
Description:
This document reviews the state of the art of air emissions from the reclaiming of waste solvents. The composition, quantity, and rate of emissions are described. Waste solvents are organic dissolving agents which are contaminated with suspended and dissolved solids, organics, water, other solvents, and/or other substances. Reclaiming consists of restoring a waste solvent to a condition that permits its reuse. A representative plant was defined in order to determine the potential environmental impact of the solvent reclaiming industry. Source severity was defined as the ratio of the time-averaged maximum ground level concentration of a pollutant to a hazard factor. For criteria pollutants, the hazard factor is the ambient air quality standard; for noncriteria pollutants, it is a reduced TLV. In a representative plant, the hydrocarbon source severity is 0.31, and particulate source severity is 0.0085; for selected solvents ranging from acetone to butanol, source severities ranged from 0.0063 to 0.05. Hydrocarbon emissions are controlled using floating roofs, refrigeration, and conservation vents for storage tanks, and packed scrubbers and secondary condensers for distillation units. Particulate control from incinerator stacks is accomplished using wet scrubbers.