End of line gas treatment design of a paint coating process

Identifier:  TFG:2341

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG2341

Authors:  Panait, Cosmin

Abstract:
Over the last decades, the excessive increase in air pollution has made the control of pollution one of the priority objectives to continuously improve any company, where research, development of technologies and start-up of environmental regulations have been the main triggers of this need. Among the most common air pollutants, are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs emitted into the atmosphere can be of natural origin (plant chloroplasts) or anthropogenic (fugitive exhaust emissions, from moving or stationary sources) where industrial plants represent a large part of these. Prime carpet printing industries cause significant air pollution with the solvents used in these printing processes. Among the solvents typically employed, there is ethyl acetate and isopropanol. This situation, which requires the purification of the air flow containing these substances, constitutes the case on which the study will be carried out. The techniques of treatment of gaseous effluents can be classified in two groups: - Those which carry out some modification in the process and the equipment (prevention techniques). - Those that involve some method of treatment of VOCs. Preventive measures include improvements in the process, from inspection and maintenance to avoid leakage, to the complete re-design of facilities to minimize residual organic products. When these actions are not possible or sufficient about the process or the final product, we must apply control systems at the end of the process (methods of treatment). The different alternatives available for the treatment of VOCs present in gaseous effluents, mainly air, are classified in (destructive) destructive technologies and (non-destructive) recovery technologies. The specific objectives to be addressed will be the main factor in order to decide the use of one option or the other. The general objective of this project will be to study the different systems of elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), calculate through a database the limitations with which they will work, and finally design a process that will serve us to meet the specifications and limitations under which the different components of the process will have to work. It is from this particular study where you can get to draw conclusions and methodological developments that can be extrapolated to other systems with similar needs to those of this project. To obtain and analyse the results, the simulation of each one of the processes that meet the most general limitations with which it will have to be dealt with will be carried out. For the simulations, different calculation methodologies will be studied according to the degree of accuracy required. Once the system that adapts to the most imminent needs is chosen, it will be designed and will present its implementation through economic evolution. Within this general objective, there are specific objectives such as the knowledge about the interaction of VOCs with which (ethyl acetate and isopropanol) their physical and chemical properties will be handled .