Reduce VOCs and HAPs from Painting and Cleaning Operations

WP-316

Objective

Paint spray booths possess high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) that must be collected or mitigated before the supply air is released to the environment or recirculated. The Services maintain numerous paint spray booths at almost every installation. This translates into a very large problem of control and air pollution compliance.

This project demonstrated and validated the ability of the recirculation/partitioning concept to reduce exhaust volumes from spray booths by 60 percent or more while keeping the booth environment within safety codes. The demonstration was conducted at the U.S. Marine Corps Logistic Center, Barstow, CA. Concurrent with the spray booth demonstration were research and demonstration studies using selected pollution prevention process modification options at the Logistic Center in Albany, GA. These studies were evaluated during production operations to assess the consequences of the process change and to insure the compatibility of selected options with process operations and materials.

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Technical Approach

The Program was an applications engineering and development activity which was designed to validate new and innovative non-polluting technology and process changes for manufacturing and maintenance operations. Initial emissions characterization studies of paint spray booth and surface cleaning emissions were conducted to develop baseline data for the selected process modification concepts. The critical program milestones following completion of system procurement and installation were demonstration, testing and evaluation, and reporting.

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Results

All equipment installations were completed and debugged. The system started operating in recirculation in June 1996. Initial results indicate that all objectives were achieved. All on-site work was completed. This project was completed in FY 1996.

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Benefits

The project would enable Department of Defense facilities to continue to accomplish their missions without discharge of toxic and hazardous pollutants to the atmosphere. It would develop and demonstrate technologies that permit significant reductions in pollution control technology capital and operating costs. The resulting technologies also would reduce pollution discharges by private industry and help them continue to operate while reducing their negative impact on the environment.

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Points of Contact

Principal Investigator

Mr. Charles Darvin

US EPA

Phone: 919-541-7633

Fax: 919-541-7891

Program Manager

Weapons Systems and Platforms

SERDP and ESTCP

Document Types

  • Fact Sheet - Brief project summary with links to related documents and points of contact.
  • Final Report - Comprehensive report for every completed SERDP and ESTCP project that contains all technical results.
  • Cost & Performance Report - Overview of ESTCP demonstration activities, results, and conclusions, standardized to facilitate implementation decisions.
  • Technical Report - Additional interim reports, laboratory reports, demonstration reports, and technology survey reports.
  • Guidance - Instructional information on technical topics such as protocols and user’s guides.
  • Workshop Report - Summary of workshop discussion and findings.
  • Multimedia - On demand videos, animations, and webcasts highlighting featured initiatives or technologies.
  • Model/Software - Computer programs and applications available for download.
  • Database - Digitally organized collection of data available to search and access.