Recovery and reuse of spent acetone via a mobile solvent recovery unit

Book · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:395301

Townsend, M W ^[1]

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1. Monsanto Co., Addyston, OH (United States)

The Monsanto Chemical Company operates a plastics and resins plant located in Addyston, Ohio. The process equipment requires routine rinsing with technical grade acetone between batches. Due to the volumes of spent acetone generated and the associated RCRA hazardous waste regulations, the plant sought to recycle and reuse the acetone to reduce the purchase cost of virgin acetone and the cost of spent acetone disposal. One of the first options explored was package unit distillation units. The cost of these units was in the $20--$30,000 range in 1989 dollars. Even though the cost of a package unit was not deemed unreasonable, there were additional costs and concerns that led to elimination of this option. The unit would have required additional manpower to operate and maintain, i.e., at least a fraction of an operator and mechanic. For plant safety reasons, it was desired to operate this package unit outside the production building, thus construction of an outbuilding would have added to the expense of the project. Additionally, there were concerns of package unit reliability. During this evaluation, tractor-trailer mounted distillation units were discovered. The portable units were equipped with either thin-film evaporator technology capable of processing 240 to 480 gallons per hour, or pot still (batch) distillation technology capable of rates from 120 to 240 gallons per hour. Both units were constructed of stainless steel.

• OSTI ID: 395301
• Report Number(s): CONF-9505206--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ACETONE
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
COMPILED DATA
DESIGN
DISTILLATION EQUIPMENT
MATERIALS RECOVERY
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
PERFORMANCE
PORTABLE EQUIPMENT
RECYCLING
SPENT LIQUORS