Recovery and reuse of MEK from paint stripping operation emissions using specialized adsorbents
- Purus, Inc., San Jose, CA (United States)
- Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI (United States)
- Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH (United States). Risk Reduction Engineering Lab.
The reduction of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions is a significant goal of the 1990 Clean Air Act. Industrial operations relating to surface preparation, surface coating and paint striping operations constitute one of the largest industrial sources of VOC emissions. This paper describes a new emission control system offered by Purus, Inc. which captures and recovers VOCs from paint stripping operations. The system is based on an on-site adsorption-desorption process which utilizes a specialized polymeric resin adsorbent. Adsorbent beds are regenerated through a computer controlled pressure-temperature swing process (PTSA). The adsorbent resin offers significant operational advantages over conventional activated carbon adsorbents with respect to treating air laden with methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) vapors. Treatment of MEK with activated carbon can be problematic due to reactivity (degradation) and high heats of adsorption of ketones with carbon. The Purus process was successfully demonstrated at Tinker Air Force Base in or under the EPA`s Waste Reduction Evaluation at Federal Sites program. MEK emissions from a paint stripping booth vent were controlled at greater than 95% reduction levels. The recovered solvent was returned to depainting process and reused with no loss in paint stripping efficiency.
- OSTI ID:
- 124591
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940499--; ISBN 1-56590-014-6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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