| Ultrasonic Reactor Cleaner for Reducing Solvent Use and Wastage | United States | Published in 1987 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF CHEMICALS AND CHEMICAL PRODUCTS # 55
Background
This is a case illustrating change in process to reduce solvent use in cleaning operations.
Cleaner Production Principle
Process modification
Cleaner Production Application
A Chemdet Sonic Cleaning system is now used at 3-M to clean batch reactors, replacing the old process of filling the reactor with caustic or solvent and boiling the solution for one or two days. Cleaning chemicals are pumped under pressure through a twin-nozzled rotating spray head to break down the waste. Then, caustic or solvent is sprayed under 600 lb pressure to complete the dissolution and flush the vessel clean.
Material/Energy Balance and Substitution
| Feedstock | Solvent, caustic |
| Wastes | Spent solvent, caustic, containing adhesives, resins, polymers |
| Medium | Liquid |
Environmental and Economic Benefits
| Capital Cost | $36,000 |
| Operation/ Maintenance | Reduction in labor costs not reported |
| Months to Recover | Savings realized in first year |
| Disposal and Feedstock | $575,000 in first year, from labor, materials and machine costs |
| Feedstock Reduction | Reduced requirements for solvent and caustic. |
| Waste reduction | 1,000 tons/yr of water pollutants were eliminated |
| Impacts | Installation of the Chemdet system for cleaning the reactors has eliminated the need to fill the 4,000-8,000 gallon reactors with solvent and caustic, which greatly reduces the amount of spent solvent generated. Significant savings were realized in the first year |
Constraints
None reported.
Contacts
"Catalogue of Successful Hazardous Waste Reduction/Recycling Projects", Energy Pathways Inc. and Pollution Probe Foundation, prepared for Industrial Programs Branch, Conservation & Protection Environment Canada, March, 1987, page 19.
Review Status
This case study was originally abstracted for the US EPA's Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse from the Canadian publication "Catalogue of Successful Hazardous Waste Reduction/Recycling Projects." It underwent a UNEP IE funded technical review in 1994 for quality and completeness. It was edited for the ICPIC diskette in July 1995.
Subsequently the case study has undergone another technical review by Dr Prasad Modak at Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India, in September 1998.