EPA 440/1-74/033-a Group II Development Document for Proposed Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards for the WOOD FURNITURE AND FIXTURE MANUFACTURING Segment of the TIMBER PRODUCTS PROCESSING Point Source Category UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY NOVEMBER 1974 ------- ------- DEVELOPMENT DOCUMENT for PROPOSED EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS GUIDELINES and NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS for the WOOD FURNITURE AND FIXTURE MANUFACTURING SEGMENT OF THE TIMBER PRODUCTS PROCESSING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Russell E. Train Administrator James L. Agee Assistant Administrator for Water and Hazardous Materials Allen Cywin Director, Effluent Guidelines Division Richard E. Williams Project Officer November 1974 Effluent Guidelines Division Office of Water and Hazardous Materials United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 ------- ABSTRACT This document presents the findings of a study of wood furniture and fixture manufacturing. This study is part of an extensive study of the timber products processing industry for the purpose of developing effluent limitations guidelines for the industry with the purpose of implementing Sections 301, 304, 306, and 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. The proposed effluent limitations guidelines contained herein"set forth the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available (BPCTCA) and the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best available technology economically achievable (BATEA) which must be achieved by existing point sources by July 1, 1977, and July 1, 1983, respectively. The standards of performance for new sources (NSPS) contained herein set forth the degree of effluent reduction which is achievable through the application of the best available demonstrated control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives. The wood furniture and fixture manufacturing segment has been divided into four subcategories: (1) Furniture and fixture production which neither employs wet spray booths nor has laundry facilities, (2) furniture and fixture production which employs no wet spray booths but which has laundry facilities, (3) furniture and fixture production which employs wet spray booths but which does not have laundry facilities, and (4) furniture and fixture production which employs wet spray booths and which has laundry facilities. The proposed regulations for all three levels of technology as set forth above establish the reguirement of no discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable waters for all subcategories. Supportive data and rationale for development of the proposed effluent limitations guidelines and standards of performance are contained in this document. ------- TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I II III IV V VI CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS INTRODUCTION Purpose and Authority Summary of Methods Definition of the Industry Background of the Industry Description of the Process INDUSTRY CATEGORIZATION WATER USE AND WASTE CHARACTERIZATION Water Usage Wastewater Characterization Model Plants SELECTION OF POLLUTANT PARAMETERS Wastewater Parameters of Pollutional Significance PAGE 1 3 5 5 6 8 9 13 25 31 31 36 39 43 43 VII CONTROL AND TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY In-Plant Control Measures Existing Treatment Technology Potential Treatment Technology Description of Model Systems VIII COST, ENERGY, AND NON-WATER QUALITY ASPECTS Cost and Reduction Benefits of Alternative Treatment and Control Technologies Related Energy Requirements of Alternative Treatment and Control Technologies Non-Water Quality Aspects of Alternative Treatment and Control Technologies IX BEST PRACTICABLE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE 53 53 54 56 56 67 67 86 90 91 ------- SECTION X BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY ECONOMICALLY ACHIEVABLE 95 XI NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS 97 XII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 99 XIII BIBLIOGRAPHY 101 XIV GLOSSARY 1 07 APPENDIX A - FURNITURE FINISHING MATERIALS AND METHODS 1 1 9 ------- FIGURES NUMBER 11 Treatment Alternative D, Evaporation Ponds PAGE 1 Timber Products Consumed by the Manufacture of Furniture 12 2 Furniture and Fixture Plants 3 Furniture Manufacturing Process Diagram - Prefinishing U Furniture Manufacturing Process Diagram - Finishing 5 Hydraulic Bending Process ?1 6 Basic Water Wash Spray Booth, Pump Type ?? 7 Water Wash Spray Booth, Pump Type 8 Water Wash Spray Booth, Pan Type 23 9 Water Flow in a Large Furniture Plant 10 Treatment Alternatives B and C 58 63 12 Treatment Alternative E, Spray Irrigation with Pretreatment b VI 1 ------- 2 Analysis of Spray Booth Effluent According to Finish 3 Descriptive Information for Each Reporting Plant U Wastewater Production for Various Furniture Plants 6 Flow and Composition of Wastewater from Model Plants TABLES NUMBER 1 Summary of Data Sources 27 5 Chemical Analyses of Various Waste Streams 41 7 Wastewater Disposal Methods Employed by Plants Surveyed 8 Treatment Alternative B, Equipment Summary 59 9 Treatment Alternative C, Equipment Summary 10 Treatment Alternative D, Evaporation Ponds &1 11 Treatment Alternative D, Spray Evaporation 62 12 Treatment Alternative E, Spray Irrigation 66 13 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative Bf Model 1 69 1U Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative C, Model 1 71 15 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative D, Model 1 72 16 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative B, Model 2 74 17 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative C, Model 2 76 18 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative D, Model 2 77 19 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative Er Model 2 79 20 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative B, Model 3 81 21 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative C, Model 3 81 22 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative D, Model 3 83 ------- NUMBER PAGE 23 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative B, Model 1 85 2H Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative C, Model 4 85 25 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative D, Model U 87 26 Itemized Cost Summary for Alternative E, Model H 88 27 Energy Requirements 89 ------- SECTION I CONCLUSIONS For the purpose of developing effluent limitations guidelines and standards of performance, this study divides the wood furniture and fixture manufacturing industry into four subcategories: (1) wood furniture and fixture production which neither employs wet spray booths nor has laundry facilities, (2) wood furniture and fixture production which employs no wet spray booths but which has laundry facilities, (3) wood furniture and fixture production which employs wet spray booths but which does not have laundry facilities, and (4) wood furniture and fixture production which employs wet spray booths and which has laundry facilities. The main criteria for subcategorization of this industrial segment include differences in water usage, manufacturing processes, and size of plants. It is concluded that no further subcategorization of the segment is necessary. Factors such as age of facilities, waste treatability, and raw materials usage were considered as criteria for subcategorization, however, their effects were not sufficient to influence subcategorization. It is concluded that by July 1, 1977, all furniture factories not currently doing so can achieve a level of waste control that eliminates the discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable waters. ------- SECTION II RECOMMENDATIONS It is proposed that no discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable water be required after July 1, 1977, for existing installations, and after the date of proposal of regulations for new installations. This repre- sents the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available. The elimination of discharge of process waste water pollutants from existing sources by July 1, 1977, and from new sources, may be achieved through the application of evaporation ponds, spray irrigation, burning with boiler fuel, or a combination of these techniques. It is also achievable through direct discharge to municipal waste water treatment systems, hauling to municipal waste water treatment systems, or hauling to landfill. ------- SECTION III INTRODUCTION PURPgSE_AND_AUTHORITY Section 301(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, hereinafter cited as "The Act," requires the achievement by not later than July 1, 1977, of effluent limitations for point sources, other than publicly owned treatment works, which are based on the application of the best practicable control technology currently available as defined by the Administrator pursuant to Section 30U(b) of the Act. Section 301 (b) also requires the achievement by not later than July 1, 1983, of effluent limitations for point sources, other than publicly owned treatment works, which are based on the application of the best available technology economically achievable which will result in reasonable further progress towards the national goal of eliminating the discharge of all pollutants, and which reflect the greatest degree of effluent reduction which the Administrator determines to be achievable through the application of the best available demonstrated control technology, and processes, operating methods, or other alternatives, including where practicable a standard permitting no discharge of pollutants. Section 30U(b) of the Act requires the Administrator to publish within one year of the enactment of the Act regulations providing guidelines for effluent limitations setting forth the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available and the degree of effluent reduction practices achievable including treatment techniques, process and procedure innovations, operation methods, and other alternatives. This document presents proposed effluent limitations guidelines pursuant to Section 301(b) of the Act for the wood furniture and fixture manufacturing segment of the timber products processing industry. Section 306 of the Act required the Administrator, within one year after a category of sources is included in a list published pursuant to Section 306 (b)(1)(A) of the Act, to propose regulations establishing Federal standards of performances for new sources within such categories. The Administrator published in the Federal Register of January 16, 1973, (38 F.R. 1624), a list of 27 source categories. Publication of the list constituted announcement of the ------- Administrator1s intention of establishing, under Section 306, standards of performance applicable to new sources within the timber products industry source. SUMMARY OF METHODS The effluent limitations and standards of performance proposed in this document were developed in the following manner: 1. A review of the limited available literature was conducted. This included research at the University of Florida, the Forest Products Laboratory of Mississippi State University, the United Nations Library in New York, and the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. 2. On-site inspections and sampling programs were conducted at a number of installations throughout the U.S. Infor- mation obtained included process diagrams and related water usage, water management practices, waste water characteristics, and control and treatment practices. Table 1 summarizes the plants surveyed, visited and sampled. 3. Other sources of information included: personal and telephone interviews; meetings with industry advisory committees, consultants, and EPA personnel; State and Federal permit applications; and data supplied by the industry. The reviews, analyses, and evaluations were coordinated and applied to the following: 1. An identification of pertinent features that could potentially provide a basis for subcategorization of the industry. These features included the nature of raw materials utilized, plant size and age, the nature of processes, and others as discussed in Section IV of this report. 2. A determination of the water usage and waste water characterization for each subcategory, as discussed in Section V, including the volume of water used, the sources of pollutants, and the types and quantities of constituents in the waste waters. 3 An identification of the waste water constituents, as discussed in Section VI, which are characteristic and which were determined to be pollutants subject to effluent limitation guidelines and standards of performance. ------- TABLE 1 SUKMARY OF DATA SOURCES Plant Visited Sampled Telephoned ix x 2 x x 3 x x !| x 5 x 6 x 7 x x 8 x 9 x x 10 x x 11 x 12 x 13 x x lU x 15 x x x 16 x IT x 18 x 19 x 20 x 21 x 22 x 23 x x 2k x x ------- 4. An identification of the control and treatment technologies presently employed or capable of being employed by the industry, as discussed in Section VII, including the effluent level obtainable and treatment efficiency associated with each technology. 5. An evaluation of the cost, energy, and non-water quality aspects associated with the application of each control and treatment technology as discussed in Section VIII. DEFINITION_OF_THE_W001D_FyRNITyRE_MANyFACTy]RING_INDySTRY The furniture manufacturing industry is defined in this study as that portion of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Major Group 25, Furniture and Fixtures, which covers the production of wooden furniture and fixtures. Those segments which are directly served by timber products are: 1. SIC 2511 - Wood Household Furniture, Except Upholstered, 2. SIC 2512 - Wood Household Furniture, Upholstered, 3. SIC 2517 - Wood Television, Radio, Phonograph, and Sewing Machine Cabinets, 4. SIC 2521 - Wood Office Furniture, 5. SIC 2531 - Public Building and Related Furniture (wooden) , 6. SIC 25U1 - Wood Partitions, Shelving, Lockers, and Office and Store Fixtures. The variety of products produced range from domestic bedroom furniture to telephone booths, and meets the needs of both the general homeowner and the contract buyer. The industry itself varies widely in complexity of production and, accordingly, in the quality of the finished product. Automation, process variations, and development in new forms of raw materials have enabled increases in plant size and dollar sales, but have not displaced the smaller hand crafted manufacturers. Because of diverse customer tastes, the industry remains fluid in its processes and products. The manufacture of wooden furniture and fixtures relies heavily on the timber products industry for the supply of much of its raw material. Earlier the industrial segments of raw material storage and handling, sawmills, veneer and plywood mills, hardboard mills, insulation board and ------- particleboard plants, and wood preserving plants were covered in respect to waste water volumes and concentrations, and effluent limitation guidelines were developed. According to the degree of specialization, over- lapping of these industries with furniture manufacturing does occur in the form of unit processes within the furniture plant. Coverage of such processes, however, was included in CFR, Part U29. BACKGRgyND_QF_THE_FyRNITyRE_MANyFACTyRING_INDySTRY Even with continuing development in the fields of plastics and metals and increasing use of these materials in the production of furniture, wood is still the most common material used for furniture. The oldest known piece of furniture, the bed, was developed by the Egyptians over 3200 years ago, and since that time progression in the manufacture of furniture has paralleled cultural and economic development. Originally, furniture size and configuration were limited to the width of the boards available, but the fifteenth century development of procedures for piecing wood together to form panels revo- lutionized the concept of furniture and its function. In the past century, furniture manufacturing has experienced increased substitution of other wood products for lumber. Changes in economics, customer tastes in design, and technical developments, have contributed to the increased use of plywood, veneers, particleboard, and hardboard. Traditionally, solid wood has been associated with high quality in furniture, but the present availability of particleboard as an acceptable core material for furniture has relegated the use of many hardwoods only to exposed surfaces. The process of applying thin veneers of wood to furniture surfaces came into widespread use late in the nineteenth century, and has enabled better and more efficient utilization of wood. Mahogany, cherry, maple, walnut and oak are some of the hardwoods prized for their finely grained veneers. Particleboard is by far the most widely used product for lumber substitutions in furniture and fixtures. As mentioned previously, it finds use as a core material in furniture having veneers or plastic laminates because of its uniformity, dimensional stability, and economy. Within the past 15 years, consumption of particleboard by furniture manufacturers has increased seven fold. ------- Hardboard is another wood product finding wide use as a lumber substitute. The last decade has seen a tripling in the amount of hardboard used as shelving, drawer bottoms, and chest backing in the manufacture of promotional and institutional furniture lines and inexpensive furniture. Saw-timber makes up less than half the timber produced annually. Remanufacturing uses consume about 10 percent of all sawmill and veneer mill production. The furniture industry uses approximately 60 to 70 percent of the lumber and pressboard used by the remanufacturing industry. The substantial increasing use of lumber, particleboard, and hardboard in the past two decades is shown graphically in Figure 1. It is the manufacture of household furniture, however, that demands such large amounts of timber products since metals and plastics are used extensively in commercial and institutional furniture. Nonwood materials have successfully replaced lumber in areas of the furniture and fixtures industry where standardization of product can be achieved. Metal office furniture and metal partitions, lockers, and file cabinets are all examples of such a standardized product. Other segments of the industry which have replaced lumber with metals, plastics, and fabrics are porch and lawn furniture, school furniture, and auditorium and theater seating. In household furniture production, however, the use of plastics and metals has been generally limited to adornment such as molded drawer fronts, hardware such as drawer handles, and laminated surfaces such as plastic table tops. The furniture and fixture industry is as diversified in manufacturing locations as it is in the size of its establishments. Presently, there are about 7,000 establishments within the six SIC codes covered in this study, with about 90 percent of these having fewer than 100 employees. However this majority of establishments only represents 35 percent of the industry's sales, documenting the fact that the market is well controlled by the larger companies. The state of North Carolina alone supports almost 20 percent of the industry's business while having less than 7 percent of the total establishments. Figure 2, locating the industry's concentration by state, shows the middle Atlantic, southern Atlantic, and east north central divisions to have the highest concentration of plants with California having the highest number of plants. In 1973 the industry's annual shipments reached nearly seven billion dollars, an increase of 36 percent from 1971 ------- THOUSAND THOUSAND CUBIC SQUARE METERS METERS 8000 - 7500 7000 80 6500 6000 5500 5OOO 120 - 100 - 60 40 20 X X X X X X 1950 1 ' I960 1 1970 A 8 C D LUMBER , MILLION -CUBIC METERS. VENEER AND PLYWOOD, MILLION SQUARE METERS BASED ON 9.5 mm. THICKNESS HARDBOARD, MILLION SQUARE METERS ON 3.2mm BASIS PARTICLEBOARD, MILLION SQUARE METERS ON 19.1 mm BASIS. FIGURE 1 TIMBER PRODUCTS CONSUMED BY THE MANUFACTURE OF FURNITURE ------- U. S. TOTA L 6814 HAWAII- 12 FIGURE 2 FURNITURE AND FIXTURE PLANTS ------- figures. With such a rapidly growing market, manufacturers recognize the need for additional production facilities, and in areas where labor is available, construction on new plants or expansion of existing facilities is underway. DESCRIPTION_OF_THE_FURNITyRE_MANyFACTURING_PROCESS The following discussion of the furniture manufacturing process is intended to provide a general knowledge of the operations involved in the industry. It must be realized that considerable variation occurs and that all plants are different to varying degrees. The description here is considered to be a general description of processes in the industry and is oriented toward water use and waste water generation. Figures 3 and U illustrate the overall process. RAW_MATERIAL_HANDLING_AN|D_STORAGE The principal raw materials used in furniture manufacturing are lumber, veneer, plywood, hardboard, and particleboard. Occasionally, if a plant is sufficiently large, timber may be purchased or cut from the plants own forest lands and then processed to rough dimension at its own rough mills. Particleboard or hardboard mills are usually associated with such an operation to utilize the waste wood from the rough mill and furniture plant. Otherwise, and particularly in small operations, composition panels and plywood panels are purchased. Lumber is usually stored in an area protected from the weather until it is ready for kiln drying. After kiln drying the lumber enters a dry storage area where a five to six percent moisture content is maintained. MACHINING The first step in the processing of raw materials into furniture occurs in the machine room where the stock is cut to length, ripped to width, and planed to thickness. This may be a completely automated operation in a large plant or a manual operation in a smaller plant. From this point the stock is passed on to further cutting where it is face finished, by such means as routing, boring, etc., and edge or end cut for joining. Prior to assembly, the stock is sanded on all faces that will be exposed on the finished product. When composition board and plywood are used as finished surfaces they are either veneered or laminated prior to reaching the furniture assembly line. These panels may be ------- FURNITURE ASSEMBLY FIGURE 3 FURNITURE MANUFACTURING PROCESS DIAGRAM - PREFINISHING ------- BLEACHING SPRAY BOOTH 1 WOOD GRAINING ASSEMBLY FINISHING OPERATIONS SAP STAINING SPRAY BOOTH STAINING SPRAY BOOTH WASH COATING SPRAY BOOTH FILLING SPRAY BOOTH SEALING SPRAY BOOTH TOPCOATING SPRAY BOOTH BARRIER COATS SPRAY BOOTH RUBBING ft POLISHING i [ PACKING a SHIPPING FIGURE 4 FURNITURE MANUFACTURING PROCESS DIAGRAM - FINISHING ------- cut and edge finished to the exact size of the finished product or cut to rough dimension and edge finished at a process farther down the assembly line. The panel surface may be left unfinished at this point and later finished with the furniture unit, or it may be prefinished by a printing process or lamination. Wood has good bending stress gualities about the longitudinal axis of grain but has rather poor stress qualities about the lateral axis. when a curved or serpentine piece of wood is required for strength, it may be composed of small pieces of wood glued together to form a longitudinal grain or may be a single piece of wood bent by the process of steam application, as illustrated in Figure D • The first step in the steam bending process is to cut the wood to a predetermined size and length. It is then placed in a steam chamber or retort under atmospheric pressure for a period of time, usually about 30 minutes depending upon the wood species and size. The wood is then placed in a flexible metal band and bent to shape in a hydraulic bender The band is secured by metal straps and wood spacers are inserted to hold the wood in the bent shape after pressure is released from the bender. The strapped wood is then oven dried and cooled at a controlled rate. Thin pieces of wood are bent in the same manner except they can be bent by hand over a mold and held in place by other means until dried and cooled. ASSEMBLY After all component parts have been fabricated, they are transported to the assembly area. in this stage of the process the parts are fastened together by the use of metal fasteners (nails, screws, staples, etc.) and/or glued joints. Sub-assemblies are fabricated and in turn are passed down the assembly line for final fabrication. Glue may be used at any of several points in the assembly process depending on the type of product being made. Generally, a higher quality product will have both glued and metal fastened joints. The application of glue involves the use of either hand held bottles or automatic machines. The two general types of glue used are solvent base and water base, ^such as urea glue that requires water for mixing. ------- I I /^STEAMED WOOD BAND B HYDRAULIC BENDER METAL STRAP WOOD SPACER FIGURE 5 HYDRAULIC BENDING PROCESS — t ------- ZINISHING_OPERATIONS After complete assembly, the furniture components are transported to the finishing room where the steps shown in Figure 4 are carried out. The primary purposes of finishing, for both inexpensive and expensive furniture, are beautification, protection, and preservation to the wood. The finish prevents excessive absorption of atmospheric moisture which would cause swelling and warping of the wood. It also provides resistance to surface soiling and staining. It is possible to provide wood with sufficient protection for average conditions of interior service with a simple finish coat of lacquer, varnish, or enamel paint. However, the demand for refinement requires a considerable number of operations and finishing materials. A summary of these operations and materials is presented in the remainder of this section and a more detailed discussion is contained in Appendix A. As illustrated in Figure 4, finishing operations typically consist of the following: 1. Bleaching is the use of a strong oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide to remove or subdue the natural wood colorant. 2. Staining, done after bleaching if bleaching is required, involves the application of transparent or semitransparent liquids made from dyes, finely divided pigments, or chemicals. The purpose of staining is to provide an undertone to the finished wood. 3. Filling is the application of a solution consisting of translucent, inert pigments, a vehicle binder, and thinners. Fillers are normally applied to woods with large pores in order to fill the pores and make the pattern of the wood stand out more clearly. 4. Sealing prevents the transfer of materials from one finish coat to another. Sealers may be applied on bare wood as a barrier coat, between the stain and filler as a wash coat, or after the filling operation as a prime coat. 5. Topcoating is the application of a lacquer or, less commonly, a varnish to the wood as a final protective coat. 6. Wood graining is the process of printing a wood grain on ------- the surface of composition board, plywood, or solid wood. The various finishing materials may be applied by brush or roller, but most often they are sprayed onto the wood surfaces. Spraying operations, as shown in Figure 4, require the use of spray booths to collect and contain the overspray and thus provide fire and health protection. The air drawn into the booth from the object being sprayed is filtered by one of several methods before discharge to an outside source. The two categories of spray booths are the dry booth and the water wash spray booth. Both types vary in size and shape to meet specific needs and have definite advantages and limitations. Before selection, the following must be considered: 1. Location of booth in the plant, 2. Kind, viscosity, and drying speed of materials being sprayed, 3. Size and shape of products to be sprayed and handling method (manual or conveyorized), 4. Spraying operation—limited, intermittent, or continuous; automatic or manual; compressed air, airless or electrostatic, and 5. Air movement requirements. In addition, regulations on safety, fire, insurance, and building codes must be considered. The difference between the dry booth and the water wash spray booth is the method of cleaning the air prior to discharge. In the dry booth air is filtered by being drawn through one or more filters or paint arresters. These filters may be constructed of paper, fiberglass, or other materials which may or may not be reuseable. In the water wash spray booth, the solids are removed by being forced through a series of water sprays or by being collected in a water pan. The dry booth has the lowest cost for installation but the cleaning maintenance can be a major problem where the overspray collects. These booths are well suited_ for production spraying for all types of finishing materials, quick or slow drying. However, fire insurance underwriters, ------- finishing engineers, and operators generally prefer water wash spray booths which are not dependent upon exhaust stack locations, outside plant extensions, or type material considerations for installation. The water wash spray booth is said to remove at least 98 percent of solid overspray particles from the exhaust air and to keep the inside of the exhaust stack clean. In addition, these booths permit the overspray solids to be salvaged and reprocessed depending upon the material being sprayed. A basic pump type booth is shown in Figure 6. An exhaust fan draws the air from the spray area through the water curtain discharge and washing chamber, where the air is cleaned of solids, and then to the moisture eliminator prior to discharge. The solids fall back with the water and are collected in the pan. Common to all pump type booths are the following: 1. A tank large enough to hold the necessary amount of compounded water, 2. A pump for water circulation through the discharge manifolds, 3. Manifolds containing discharge nozzles to generate a spray condition, U. A background water curtain to collect spray mist, 5. One or more washing chambers for removal of solids contamination, 6. A moisture eliminator to remove any moisture picked up during operation, 7. An exhaust fan for air movement. One variation of the pump type booth is shown in Figure 7. Because of the additional components it has a higher initial cost, but it provides more efficient filtration because the air is being forced through a longer water spray. The pan type water wash booth is shown in Figure 8. In this booth air is drawn under an entrainment plate and causes movement of the water towards the rear of the booth. The air velocity causes the water surface behind the plate to lift into a rotating cascade which scrubs the overspray. The air and water are further separated by flowing around ------- CLEAN AIR EXHAUST FAN WATER SPRAY (3 „> MOISTURE 6) ELIMINATION WATER SPRAY WASHING CHAMBER FLOAT VALVE INTAKE TO PUMP FIGURE 6 BASIC WATER WASH SPRAY BOOTH, PUMP TYPE ------- CLEAN AIR SPRAY MANIFOLD WATER CURTAIN DIRTY AIR MOISTURE 'ELIMINATOR SPRAY MANIFOLD WATER TANK FIGURE 7 WATER WASH SPRAY BOOTH, PUMP TYPE ------- NOPUMP SPRAY BOOTH ENTRAINMENT PLATE PROFILE LEGEND ^==== AIR MOVEMENT WATER FINISH PARTICLES FIGURE 8 WATER WASH SPRAY BOOTH, PAN TYPE ------- and striking the eliminator plates. The compounded water in the pan booth contains an anti-coagulant to cause the overspray to settle to the bottom of the pan. The water then returns to the front of the spray area through an underwater trough. A variation of this booth is the shallow water pan type which normally would not have the underwater trough. The critical factor in a pan booth is the distance of water below the entrainment plate. A decrease in water level because of evaporation causes a low air pressure differential and reduces efficiency. Most pan type booths have a control mechanism to maintain proper water depth. The cleaning operation common to both types of water wash spray booths is normally conducted once a week, but may vary according to usage of the booth. It consists of draining the water to a point of discharge and then manually removing the settled solids. A small amount of water may be used to flush the booth prior to refilling. Once the pan is refilled, the water is continuously recycled during operation by the pumps or air movement until the next cleaning operation. As stated before, water is added as necessary. Spray booths are usually constructed of 18 gauge or heavier metal except for bleaching booths which are constructed of concrete or masonry and glazed for protection against the corrosive action of bleaches. They are dry filter booths, but are cleaned for fire protection by water wash down at least every two or three hours or at the end of a spray cycle. In larger furniture factories it is not uncommon to find laundry facilities for the rags used in the various finishing operations. Sometimes these facilities consist of one or two commercial type washing machines serving several furniture plants. ------- SECTION IV INDUSTRY CATEGORIZATION In the development of effluent limitation guidelines and standards of performance for the wooden furniture and fixture manufacturing industry, it was necessary to determine whether significant differences exist which form a basis for subcategorization of the industry. The rationale for subcategorization was based on emphasized differences and similiarities in the following factors: (1) constituents and/or quantity of waste produced, (2) the engineering feasibility of treatment and resulting effluent reduction, and (3) the cost of treatment. While factors such as process employed, plant age and size, and raw material utilized tend to affect the constituents and quantity of waste produced, the emphasis herein is not merely on an analyzation of these factors but on the resulting differences in waste produced, engineering feasibility, and cost. Since the manufacture of furniture and fixtures encompasses such a varied field of products and processes, consideration was given to several factors which might identify potential subcategories within the industry. The factors considered included: (1) Process variation, (2) Nature of raw materials, (3) Plant size and age, (4) Nature of water supply, (5) Plant location and land availability, and (6) Water usage. In consideration of the above factors, the segment of the furniture industry covered in this study and subject to recommended effluent limitations has been subcategorized as follows: (1) Furniture and fixture production which neither employs water wash spray booths nor has laundry facilities for finishing rags, (2) Furniture and fixture production which employs no water wash spray booths but has laundry facilities for finishing rags, ------- (3) Furniture and fixture production which employs water wash spray booths but has no laundry facilities for finishing rags, (4) Furniture and fixture production which employs water wash spray booths and has laundry facilities for finishing rags. The rationale for the above categorization is as follows: PROCESS VARIATION As indicated in Section III, the production of furniture and fixtures includes many processes which may or may not be utilized, according to the type and quality of tha finished product. The product dictates the variations in the complexity of the machining and finishing operations; and the complexity of these processes will to some extent affect the amount and characteristics of waste water. The wood bending, bleaching, printing, and glue spreading operations all contribute somewhat to the total waste flow of the industry. The first three operations, however, are practiced only in specialized cases, and their significance does not affect subcategorization. Glue spreading also does not justify subcategorization, not because of specialization, however, but because of generalization. Since glue spreading with its resulting cleanup water has widespread use throughout the industry, this operation is included in all subcategories. Therefore, although process variations do exist, their effect on waste water volume, characteristics, control, and treatment is not sufficient to substantiate subcategorization. NATURE OF RAW MATERIALS No subcategorization resulted from consideration of the nature of raw materials. Since this study is directed toward wooden furniture and fixtures, raw materials originate primarily from wood products-lumber, plywood, particleboard, and hardboard; a smaller percentage comes from plastics. Since raw material storage is usually inside the plant, however, and the production process is generally dry insofar as water contact with materials is concerned, no subcategorization is warranted. Finishing materials are utilized in a variety of combinations as discussed in Section III. The effect of some different finishes on the waste water from water wash spray booths is shown in Table 2. It can be seen that the type of finish used causes variations in the waste water ------- TABLE 2 ANALYSIS OF SPRAY BOOTH EFFLUENT * ACCORDING TO FINISH COD TS TDS TSS TVS TVDS TVSS TOG TIC Color Type Finish mg/1 mg/1 rag/I mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 rag/I pH Units Stain 8,068 16,000 15,300 TOO 2,6lO 2,260 350 1,956 1,356 12.1 500 Sealer 22,071 30,800 22,1*00 8,1+00 11,200 h ,620 6,580 1,822 86? 11. U 500 Lacquer 3^,7^0 1*2,000 29,500 12,500 18,200 8,260 9,9^0 732 217 10.7 500 *Effluent from pan type spray booths after hk hours of use. - I ------- constituents. However, since waste waters from water wash spray booths are usually treated as a unit, not individual streams; since the same booth is often used for different finishes; and since the use of a variety of finishing materials is common to all furniture and fixture plants, subcategorization because specific finishes is not justified. PLANT SIZE AND AGE Operations in the furniture and fixture industry range in size from home workshops to complexes with hundreds of employees. In some cases size of operation and waste water volume and pollutant load will be proportional. It should be noted that because of economic factors related to plant size, larger plants can support equipment not always economically available to the smaller establishments. In two specific instances, laundry facilities and water wash spray booths, the equipment directly contributes to the quantity and character of the waste streams. Because this is not categorically inclusive of all large plants and exclusive of all small plants, however, it does not constitute a basis for subcategorization of the industry. Plant age cannot be considered as a basis for subcategorization since operations vary in age of equipment as well as structures, i.e., plants generally undergo a continuous modernization of facilities and the actual "age" of an installation is indeterminable. The only trend related_ to age observed in this study is that newer plants and finishing rooms tend to have more water wash spray booths than those with older finishing equipment. Increasing emphasis placed on occupational safety and health standards and air pollution control has encouraged use of this type equipment. NATURE OF WATER SUPPLY The quantity and quality of fresh water supplies utilized by furniture and fixture operations were originally considered to be possible elements for industry subcategorization because of potential prohibitive factors that could be encountered in control and treatment. However, despite the fact that the industry tends to use the most available water supplies, in most cases a municipal distribution system, and some variation in the nature of the water supplies results, no detectable effects on control and treatment have resulted from this study. Therefore, nature of water supply is not regarded as a technical element necessitating subcategorization. ------- PLANT LOCATION AND LAND AVAILABILITY The location of a furniture or fixture plant may be significant in terms of climatic effects on operations and control and treatment technology, the availability of adequate land for the construction of treatment facilities, and other factors. These factors have received consideration in the development of control and treatment technology (see Section VII) in which, for example, various evaporation rates were considered for different sections of the country and different treatment alternatives were developed for varying amounts of available land. Despite the fact that plant location and land availability can seriously affect the practicality of various control and treatment methods as well as costs, no rational subcategorization can be based on this consideration because of the wide variability of conditions. The considerations taken in the development of control and treatment technology are considered adequate for the development of effluent limitation guidelines, and plant location and land availability are rejected as technical elements necessitating subcategorization. WATER USAGE Several operations in the furniture and fixture industry necessitate an increased usage of water above that generally used throughout the industry. These are the use of water wash spray booths, in-plant laundry facilities, and wet scrubbers as emission control devices. The waste water streams generated by the first two operations are significant enough to substantiate subcategorization of the industry. The waste volumes of both the water wash spray booths and laundry facilities comprise the majority of all wastes from furniture and fixture manufacturing plants, and thus each must be treated accordingly. The third operation, wet scrubbers, result in an intermitent discharge of a relatively small volume of water from the scrubber which can be disposed of by the treatment and control alternatives presented in Section VII. - J ------- SECTION V WATER USE AND WASTE CHARACTERIZATION Water usage in the furniture industry is highly variable primarily because its usage is not required on a regular basis. Water is used for cooling, steam production, cleaning, mixing, laundering, and air pollution control in amounts that vary from none for some plants to several cubic meters (thousand gallons) per day for others. The purpose of this section is to quantify water usage in the industry and to define waste water characteristics to the degree possible on an industry-wide basis. WATER_ySAGE As discussed in Section III, the operations which are present at a given furniture plant vary widely. The production of lumber, veneer, plywood, and particleboard may take place on the same site as the production of furniture. On the other hand, all the components of furniture may be purchased in a finished form, and consequently, the furniture plant may consist basically of an assembly plant and a finishing line. Figure 9 illustrates the production units which might be present at a large furniture plant producing some or all of the component parts of the furniture. This figure also delineates the points of water usage which are of concern in this section. The degree of water usage in a furniture plant is primarily dependent on the presence of water wash spray booths, laundry facilities, and, to some degree, the presence of glue applicators, which must be cleaned. These three sources will generally account for nearly all of the discharge of contaminated water from a furniture plant. In addition, the size and number of water wash spray booths and the number of loads of laundry washer per day will directly affect the volume of waste water discharged. Table 3 provides descriptive information on various furniture plants while water usage and waste water discharge information is presented in Table U. The raw material usage percentages indicate to some extent the type of finishing systems which exist in each plant. Those plants using primarily wood, rather than plywood or particleboard, will usually require more spray finishing operations and, consequently, will have a greater likelihood of utilizing water wash spray booths. The number of spray booths per plant is listed by type of booth. Also included in Table 3 ------- FRES WATE STEA FRES WATE FRES WATE SAWMILL PLANING MILL Rj_^ M * H( Rj ^ H( R \ — • GLUE CL - WOOD B -^- GLUE >- GLUE C ^ ftl FAPH — »» LAUND MIXIN .EAN ENDIN( MIXING LEAN BOOT ING UP RY VENEER MILL PLYWOOD MILL ID JP K PARTICLEBOARD FINISHING MILL MATFRIAI 9 HARDBOARD PLASTICS MILL PLASTICS 1 1AC R( \ RAW MATERIALS rllNh ^^ oLUt WAi>M DOM *- WOOD BENDING COND P ENSATE CABINET ROOM *^ QLUC WAoH i FINISH f >-SPRAY BOOTH DISCH> No ^ DUbAUnllMw UlbUHAKUl \RGE FIGURE 9 WATER FLOW IN A LARGE FURNITURE PLANT ------- TABLE 3 DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION FOR EACH REPORTING PLANT Plant Material Usage by Percent (Particleboard Finishing Material Spray Booths (Wood) and Plyvood) (Plastic) (liters/day) (Dry) (Wet) Employees 1 22 2 69 3 100 U 50 5 55 6 7 100 8 90 9 60 10 92 11 65 12 65 13 55 lit 5 15 75 67 11 31 — 50 20 25 65 35 — 10 20 20 8 35 35 30 15 75 20 25 1,610 1,500 — 1,320 — 190 — 2,1+60 1,100 5,700 1,090 — 980 — 1,900 0 2 All All 0 1+ All 19 0 58 10 All 0 All All 9 11 0 0 6 0 0 12 7 5 1 0 2? 0 0 1+00 275 285 1+50 220 125 300 1,250 270 1,800 280 160 600 130 335 ------- TABLE 1+ WASTE WATER PRODUCTION FOR VARIOUS FURNITURE PLATA'S Plant 1 2 3 1+ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 111 15 Weekly Spray Booth Discharge (liters) 6,250 11,700 — — 5,700 — 18,200 9,500 18,200 5,700 — 19,000 — — Daily Glue Daily Laundry Wash Discharge Discharge (liters) (liters) 75 800 380 — 760 — 20 760 h,000 - 6,100 19,000 — ho 190 — 380 Total Daily Other Discharge Avg. Discharge (liters) (liters) 2,125 Viet scrub'ber dis- charge 22,700/wk Wood "bending con- 170 densate 170/day 760 1,11*0 0 20 8,1*00 1,900 28,71+0 1.1UO 1*0 3,990 0 Bleaching discharge 1*75 95/day ------- is the approximate number of employees per plant. This provides a rough indication of relative plant sizes. The volume of water discharged from each spray booth as indicated in Table U is dependent on the size of the booth, the frequency of its usage, the type of material captured by the booth, and other operational constraints. In general, the booths are drained weekly in order to minimize the accumulation of finishing materials in the water and to insure efficient operation. The volume of water contained in each booth varies from 760 liters to 5700 liters (200 gallons to 1500 gallons), but is generally about 1140 liters (300 gallons) . The amount of water utilized for glue cleanup is also quite variable as is indicated in Table t. The glue used in furniture manufacturing is generally polyvinyl acetate or urea formaldehyde and is applied with applicators which require some small amount of cleanup. The large volume reported by plant 10 results from the presence of plywood glue spreaders, the waste water from which is discussed in the document presenting effluent guidelines and standards for plywood manufacturing (EPA-440/1-74-023-a). The only other major source of waste water in the furniture industry is that associated with laundry facilities. The reported volumes of waste water are given in Table U. The reported waste water volumes vary considerably because in many cases laundry facilities in one plant actually serve several neighboring plants. Thus, the size of the machines and the number of loads per day differ widely from plant to plant. The majority of plants, especially the smaller ones in metropolitan areas, do not maintain their own laundry facilities. Other miscellaneous waste streams result from bleaching, bending, and air pollution control devices. Bleaching is practiced to a limited extent as discussed in Section III. The waste water resulting from bleaching is reported to be intermittent with volumes seldom exceeding 190 liters/day (50 gpd). Bending of wood, also an infrequent practice, is accomplished by steaming the wood. The condensate formed as a result of this operation was reported to amount to about 380 liters/day (100 gpd) at one plant. Wet scrubbers are reported at some furniture plants utilizing boilers. While the scrubber water is recycled to a large extent, some continuous bleedoff may be required to avoid high solids buildup and a resulting loss of efficiency. Generally, the rate of bleedoff ranges from 8 to 40 liters (2 to 10 gallons) per minute. ------- WASTE_WATER_CHARACTERIZATION As noted above, the primary sources of waste water from the furniture manufacturing process are spray booths, laundry facilities, and glue cleanup operations. The characteristics of the waste water discharged from spray booths is dependent on the amount and type of overspray material captured by the water. The amount of material captured is a function of the efficiency of the booth in removing overspray from the air, the intensity of usage of the spray booth, and the length of time between booth drainages. The type of material used is dependent primarily upon the particular type of finishing operation being performed. The results of chemical analyses on spray booth waste waters containing various types of finishes after varying lengths of service are shown in Table 5. While generalization about the various finishes is inappropriate, some^ general statements regarding the waste water are applicable. The pH of the various samples is generally high because of the presence of alkaline agents in the water which are added to disperse the finishing materials. These deflocculating agents are available commercially and usually consist of alkaline and surfactant materials in various combinations. Solids concentrations are quite high with the greater percentage being dissolved and nonvolatile. COD levels are also high while the corresponding BOD levels in some cases may indicate a low biodegradability. The waste water generated by laundry facilities at furniture plants is also quite concentrated as shown in Table 5. The high pH and solids concentrations result from the addition of soda ash, caustics such as sodium hydroxide, and clay to the washwater. These materials are used in combination with strong detergents to clean the rags used for wiping and rubbing furniture. The resulting waste water is highly colored and contains high levels of COD and BOD. The BOD levels indicate biodegradability of a portion of the waste water as is typical of other laundry wastes. Glue waste water characteristics from cleanup operations are presented in Table 5. The concentration of the various constitutents is a function of the type of glue used and the volume of water used for cleanup. In general, the solids content is almost entirely volatile and for the most part dissolved. Characteristics of various miscellaneous waste streams are also given in Table 5. These constitute small but concentrated streams which may or may not be present at a given plant. ------- COD BOO TS TDS TSS TVS TVDS TVSS TOC TIC Color Phenol Pt Co Pb Discharge Sample nq/1 nq/1 mq/1 inq/1 no/1 mq/1 i>iq/l mq/1 mg/1 ng/1 pH Units ing/1 nig/1 nq/1 mg/1 liters Starting water, 3,410 26,100 25,100 900 4,840 a,390 150 730 520 13.1 392 530/week deflocculant added, pan type booth Stain 3,700 16,100 13,100 3,000 6,740 3,990 250 1,876 813 12.6 500 22 hr. operation nan tyue booth Stain 3,070 16,000 15,300 700 2,610 2,260 350 1,956 1,356 12.1 > 500 44 hr. operation pan type booth Filler 33,430 16,350 56,800 48,300 3,500 11,400 11,200 3,200 4,666 2,167 129 : 500 530/week 22 hr ooeration pan type booth Ciller 122,100 97,400 54,900 42,500 32,400 11,600 20,800 7,405 3,035 12.7 ^500 44 hr. operation Dan type booth Sealer 22,070 30,800 22,400 8,400 11,200 4,620 6,530 1,822 367 11 4 500 470/week 44 hr. ooeration pan tyoe booth 90,300 63,600 26,700 50,600 29,200 21,400 295 1,462 11.3 -500 0.7 '0.5 300/week Lacquer 34,740 42,000 29,500 12,500 18.200 8,260 9,940 732 217 10 7 '-500 300/week 44 hr operation dan tyoe booth Sealer and Lacquer 1,300 1,680 ,v,/ 887 10 483 480 3 1,734 223 78 75 30 hr. ooeration waterfall type booth Lacquer 4,750 1,980 1,170 344 833 1,027 223 804 1,530 163 6.6 71 30 hr operation waterfall tyoe booth Filler 550 130 VI 256 91 1"7 101 46 280 163 6 7 18 30 hr. operation Dan tyoe booth Glaze 5 hr ooeration •waterfall tyie booth Laundry wash 35,620 3,100 32,300 14,000 18,300 9,790 4,260 5,530 2,396 1,495 12.7 ^500 1 0 103 570/.;eek cycle discharge TABLE 5 CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF VARIOUS WASTE STREAMS ------- COD BOD TS IDS TSS TVS TVDS TVSS TOC TIC Color Phenol Pt Co Pb Discharge Samole mg/1 wg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 mg/1 rng/1 pH Units mq/1 mg/1 nig/1 mg/1 liters Glue mixer and 11,470 1,520 11,200 9,910 1,290 10,900 9,700 1,200 1,547 1,300 4.9 63 0.172 spreader wash- down Glue spreader 23,470 washdown Glue spreader 41,230 washdown Bleach booth discharge Uet scrubber Discharge, 7 days Wet scrubber discharge, 9 days Wood bending discharge 21,000 17,300 3,700 20,500 16,900 3,600 2,744 1,474 5.0 0 0.043 24,000 15,200 3,300 23,700 14,800 3,900 2,648 1,517 4.4 8 0.167 2,030 90 2i,600 19,100 5,500 8,720 3,300 5,420 105 1,951 9.2 100 0.150 1,150 90 1,040 754 286 580 304 276 185 195 6.8 125 1,190 80 1,360 635 725 842 250 592 436 260 7.6 bu 720 230 671 547 124 392 385 598 325 4.1 394 0.276 380/day 380/day 380/day 190/day 22,700/week 22,700/week 380/day TABLE 5 CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF VARIOUS WASTE STREAMS (CONT'D) ------- MQPEL_PLANTS On the basis of the information discussed above, model plants can be formulated. As was noted, the volume of waste water generated in a furniture plant is predominantly dependent on the presence of wet spray booths and laundry facilities. Pour subcategories of furniture plants were developed in Section IV based on combinations of these operations. On the basis of these subcategories and the data represented in this section the four model plants are: 1. Model plant 1 (Subcategory I) contains no water wash spray booths, no laundry facilities and two glue spreaders requiring daily cleanup. 2. Model plant 2 (Subcategory II) contains no water wash spray booths, laundry facilities, and two glue spreaders requiring daily cleanup. 3. Model plant 3 (Subcategory III) contains water wash spray booths, no laundry, and two glue spreaders requiring daily cleanup. 4. Model plant 4 (Subcategory IV) contains water wash booths and laundry facilities and two glue spreaders. In order to develop the above models and their associated waste water characteristics certain assumptions were necessary. The basic assumptions are as follows: 1. The total weekly mass of pollutants is the same per booth regardless of the booth volume. 2. Booths are dumped on a weekly basis. 3. Volumes may be computed on a basis of plant averages from available information. i*. All plants utilize an alkaline deflocculant. 5. The plants with wet booths utilize eight pan type booths of 1140 liter (300 gallon) capacity each. 6. Two glue spreaders are assumed for each plant with cleanup of 380 liters (100 gallons)/spreader/day. 7. In laundries loadings of rinse water are assumed to be 10 percent of loadings from wash water. 8. All plants operate five days/week. J ------- MpdeJ '•1 : Dry Spray Booths No Laundry Facilities Two Glue Spreaders -•2: Dry Spray Booths Laundry Faci1ities Two Glue Spreaders =3: Met Spray Booths No Laundry Facilities Two Glue Spreaders Average Flows 760 1iters/day COD i'ig/1 TVS TVDS mq/j TVSS mq/1 TIC Color mg/J pH Units Phenol 1,500 25,400 18,700 14,100 4,600 18,400 14,000 4,600 2,300 1,400 4.8 4,550 liters/day 2,750 15,150 12,950 7,940 2,060 11,040 3,630 2,430 1,120 610 Pt rmj/J 6.0 760 liters/day 1,500 25,400 18,700 14,100 4,600 18,400 14,000 4,600 2,300 1,400 4.8 with additional 9,120 liters/week 46,700 47,225 31,200 16,000 16,700 7,380 12,400 2,980 1,370 11.7 >500 0.127 »4: 'Jet Spray Booths 4,550 liters/day 2,750 15,150 12,950 7,940 2,060 11,040 Laundry Facilities with additional Two Glue Spreaders 9,120 1iters/week 46,700 47,225 31,200 16,000 16,700 3,630 2,430 1,120 610 7,380 12,400 2,980 1,370 11.7 > 500 6.0 TABLE 6 FLOW AND COMPOSITION OF WASTEWATER FROM MODEL PLANTS ------- SECTION VI SELECTION OF POLLUTANT PARAMETERS WESTE_WATER_PARAMETERS_OF_POLLUTIONAL_SIGNIFICANCE Waste water parameters of primary significance for the furniture and fixture manufacturing segment of the Timber Products industry include: COD Total Suspended solids Dissolved solids pH Temperature Phosphorus Waste water parameters of secondary significance include: BOD Phenols Color Oil and grease Inorganic ions The above parameters have been selected as representing those chemical constituents which might be present in waste water produced by the industry and which might have a detrimental effect on a receiving water. However, all of these parameters are not present in the raw waste streams of each plant in the furniture and fixture manufacturing industry. The inorganic ions occasionally associated with finishing materials are specific to the finishing materials used. When land disposal of waste water is practiced, contribution to ground water pollution must be prevented. Under land disposal procedures, all practices should be in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency's "Policy on Subsurface Emplacement of Fluids by Well Injection" with accompanying "Recommended Data Requirements for Environmental Evaluation of Subsurface Emplacement of Fluids by Well Injection". Significant pollutional parameters for the protection of ground water from land disposal include organics, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, and nutrients. ------- Suspended solids include both organic and inorganic materials. The inorganic components include sand, silt, and clay. The organic fraction includes such materials as grease, oil, tar, animal and vegetable fats, various fibers, sawdust, hair, and various materials from sewers. These solids may settle out rapidly and bottom deposits are often a mixture of both organic and inorganic solids. They adversely affect fisheries by covering the bottom of the stream or lake with a blanket of material that destroys the fish-food bottom fauna or the spawning ground of fish. Deposits containing organic materials may deplete bottom oxygen supplies and produce hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, and other noxious gases. In raw water sources for domestic use, state and regional agencies generally specify that suspended solids in streams shall not be present in sufficient concentration to be objectionable or to interfere with normal treatment processes. Suspended solids in water may interfere with many industrial processes, and cause foaming in boilers, or encrustations on equipment exposed to water, especially as the temperature rises. Suspended solids are undesirable in water for textile industries; paper and pulp; beverages; dairy products; laundries; dyeing; photography; cooling systems, and power plants. Suspended particles also serve as a transport mechanism for pesticides and other substances which are readily sorbed into or onto clay particles. Solids may be suspended in water for a time, and then settle to the bed of the stream or lake. These settleable solids discharged with man's wastes may be inert, slowly biodegradable materials, or rapidly decomposable substances. While in suspension, they increase the turbidity of the water, reduce light penetration and impair the photosynthetic activity of aguatic plants. Solids in suspension are aesthetically displeasing. When they settle to form sludge deposits on the stream or lake bed, they are often much more damaging to the life in water, and they retain the capacity to displease the senses. Solids, when transformed to sludge deposits, may do a variety of damaging things, including blanketing the stream or lake bed and thereby destroying the living spaces for those benthic organisms that would otherwise occupy the habitat. When of an organic and therefore decomposable nature, solids use a portion or all of the dissolved oxygen available in the area. Organic materials also serve as a ------- seemingly inexhaustible food source for sludgeworms and associated organisms. Turbidity is principally a measure of the light absorbing properties of suspended solids. It is frequently used as a substitute method of quickly estimating the total suspended solids when the concentration is relatively low. In natural waters the dissolved solids consist mainly of carbonates, chlorides, sulfates, phosphates, and possibly nitrates of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium, with traces of iron, manganese and other substances. Many communities in the United States and in other countries use water supplies containing 2000 to UOOO mg/1 of dissolved salts, when no better water is available. Such waters are not palatable, may not quench thirst, and may have a laxative action on new users. Waters containing more than 4000 mg/1 of total salts are generally considered unfit for human use, although in hot climates such higher salt concentrations can be tolerated whereas they could not be in temperate climates. Waters containing 5000 mg/1 or more are reported to be bitter and act as bladder and intestinal irritants. It is generally agreed that the salt concentration of good, palatable water should not exceed 500 mg/1. Limiting concentrations of dissolved solids for fresh-water fish may range from 5,000 to 10,000 mg/1, according to species and prior acclimatization. Some fish are adapted to living in more saline waters, and a few species of fresh- water forms have been found in natural waters with a salt concentration of 15,000 to 20,000 mg/1. Fish can slowly become acclimatized to higher salinities, but fish in waters of low salinity cannot survive sudden exposure to high salinities, such as those resulting from discharges of oil- well brines. Dissolved solids may influence the toxicity of heavy metals and organic compounds to fish and other aquatic life, primarily because of the antagonistic effect of hardness on metals. Waters with total dissolved solids over 500 mg/1 have decreasing utility as irrigation water. At 5,000 mg/1 water has little or no value for irrigation. Dissolved solids in industrial waters can cause foaming in boilers and cause interference with cleaness, color, or ------- taste of many finished products. High contents of dissolved solids also tend to accelerate corrosion. Specific conductance is a measure of the capacity of water to convey an electric current. This property is related to the total concentration of ionized substances in water and water temperature. This property is frequently used as a substitute method of quickly estimating the dissolved solids concentration. BSr Acidity and Alkalinity Acidity and alkalinity are reciprocal terms. Acidity is produced by substances that yield hydrogen ions upon hydrolysis and alkalinity is produced by substances that yield hydroxyl ions. The terms "total acidity" and "total alkalinity" are often used to express the buffering capacity of a solution. Acidity in natural waters is caused by carbon dioxide, mineral acids, weakly dissociated acids, and the salts of strong acids and weak bases. Alkalinity is caused by strong bases and the salts of strong alkalies and weak acids. The term pH is a logarithmic expression of the concentration of hydrogen ions. At a pH of 7, the hydrogen and hydroxyl ion concentrations are essentially equal and the water is neutral. Lower pH values indicate acidity while higher values indicate alkalinity. The relationship between pH and acidity or alkalinity is not necessarily linear or direct. Waters with a pH below 6.0 are corrosive to water works structures, distribution lines, and household plumbing fixtures and can thus add such constituents to drinking water as iron, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead. The hydrogen ion concentration can affect the "taste" of the water. At a low pH water tastes "sour". The bactericidal effect of chlorine is weakened as the pH increases, and it is advantageous to keep the pH close to 7. This is very significant for providing safe drinking water. Extremes of pH or rapid pH changes can exert stress conditions or kill aquatic life outright. Dead fish, associated algal blooms, and foul stenches are aesthetic liabilities of any waterway. Even moderate changes from "acceptable" criteria limits of pH are deleterious to some species. The relative toxicity to aquatic life of many materials is increased by changes in the water pH. Metalocyanide complexes can increase a thousand-fold in toxicity with a drop of 1.5 pH units. The availability of ------- many nutrient substances varies with the alkalinity and acidity. Ammonia is more lethal with a higher pH. The lacrimal fluid of the human eye has a pH of approximately 7.0 and a deviation of 0.1 pH unit from the norm may result in eye irritation for the swimmer. Appreciable irritation will cause severe pain. Temperature Temperature is one of the most important and influential water quality characteristics. Temperature determines those species that may be present; it activates the hatching of young, regulates their activity, and stimulates or suppresses their growth and development; it attracts, and may kill when the water becomes too hot or becomes chilled too suddenly. Colder water generally suppresses development. Warmer water generally accelerates activity and may be a primary cause of aquatic plant nuisances when other environmental factors are suitable. Temperature is a prime regulator of natural processes within the water environment. It governs physiological functions in organisms and, acting directly or indirectly in combination with other water quality constituents, it affects aquatic life with each change. These effects include chemical reaction rates, enzymatic functions, molecular movements, and molecular exchanges between membranes within and between the physiological systems and the organs of an animal. Chemical reaction rates vary with temperature and generally increase as the temperature is increased. The solubility of gases in water varies with temperature. Dissolved oxygen is decreased by the decay or decomposition of dissolved organic substances and the decay rate increases as the temperature of the water increases reaching a maximum at about 30 °C (86°F). The temperature of stream water, even during summer, is below the optimum for pollution-associated bacteria. Increasing the water temperature increases the bacterial multiplication rate when the environment is favorable and the food supply is abundant. Reproduction cycles may be changed significantly by increased temperature because this function takes place under restricted temperature ranges. Spawning may not occur at all because temperatures are too high. Thus, a fish population may exist in a heated area only by continued immigration. Disregarding the decreased reproductive potential, water temperatures need not reach lethal levels ------- to decimate a species. Temperatures that favor competitors, predators, parasites, and disease can destroy a species at levels far below those that are lethal. Fish food organisms are altered severely when temperatures approach or exceed 90°F. Predominant algal species change, primary production is decreased, and bottom associated organisms may be depleted or altered drastically in numbers and distribution. Increased water temperatures may cause aquatic plant nuisances when other environmental factors are favorable. Synergistic actions of pollutants are more severe at higher water temperatures. Given amounts of domestic sewage, refinery wastes, oils, tars, insecticides, detergents, and fertilizers more rapidly deplete oxygen in water at higher temperatures, and the respective toxicities are likewise increased. When water temperatures increase, the predominant algal species may change from diatoms to green algae, and finally at high temperatures to blue-green algae, because of species temperature preferentials. Blue-green algae can cause serious odor problems. The number and distribution of benthic organisms decreases as water temperatures increase above 90°F, which is close to the tolerance limit for the population. This could seriously affect certain fish that depend on benthic organisms as a food source. The cost of fish being attracted to heated water in winter months may be considerable, due to fish mortalities that may result when the fish return to the cooler water. Rising temperatures stimulate the decomposition of sludge, formation of sludge gas, multiplication of saprophytic bacteria and fungi (particularly in the presence of organic wastes), and the consumption of oxygen by putrefactive processes, thus affecting the esthetic value of a water course. In general, marine water temperatures do not change as rapidly or range as widely as those of freshwaters. Marine and estuarine fishes, therefore, are less tolerant of temperature variation. Although this limited tolerance is greater in estuarine than in open water marine species, temperature changes are more important to those fishes in estuaries and bays than to those in open marine areas, because of the nursery and replenishment functions of the estuary that can be adversely affected by extreme temperature changes. ------- Phgsghorus During the past 30 years, a formidable case has developed for the belief that increasing standing crops of aquatic plant growths, which often interfere with water uses and are nuisances to man, frequently are caused by increasing supplies of phosphorus. Such phenomena are associated with a condition' of accelerated eutrophication or aging of waters. It is generally recognized that phosphorus is not the sole cause of eutrophication, but there is evidence to substantiate that it is frequently the key element in all of the elements required by fresh water plants and is generally present in the least amount relative to need. Therefore, an increase in phosphorus allows use of other, already present, nutrients for plant growths. Phosphorus is usually described, for this reasons, as a "limiting factor." When a plant population is stimulated in production and attains a nuisance." status, a large number of associated liabilities are immediately apparent. Dense populations of pond weeds make swimming dangerous. Boating and water skiing and sometimes fishing may be eliminated because of the mass of vegetation that serves as an physical impediment to such activities. Plant populations have been associated with stunted fish populations and with poor fishing. Plant- nuisances emit vile stenches, impart tastes and odors to water supplies, reduce the efficiency of industrial and municipal water treatment, impair aesthetic beauty, reduce or restrict resort trade, lower waterfront property values, cause skin rashes to man during water contact, and serve as a desired substrate and breeding ground for flies. Phosphorus in the elemental form is particularly toxic, and subject to bioaccumulation in much the same way as mercury. Colloidal elemental phosphorus will poison marine fish (causing skin tissue breakdown and discoloration). Also, phosphorus is capable of being concentrated and will accumulate in organs and soft tissues. Experiments have shown that marine fish will concentrate phosphorus from water containing as little as 1 ug/1. Biochemical Oxygen Demand 1BOD). Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a measure of the oxygen consuming capabilities of organic matter. The BOD does not in itself cause direct harm to a water system, but it does exert an indirect effect by depressing the oxygen content of the water. Sewage and other organic effluents during their processes of decomposition exert a BOD, which can have a catastrophic effect on the ecosystem by depleting the oxygen ------- supply. Conditions are reached frequently where all of the oxygen is used and the continuing decay process causes the production of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane. Water with a high BOD indicates the presence of decomposing organic matter and subsequent high bacterial counts that degrade its quality and potential uses. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a water quality constituent that, in appropriate concentrations, is essential not only to keep organisms living but also to sustain species reproduction, vigor, and the development of populations. Organisms undergo stress at reduced DO concentrations that make them less competitive and able to sustain their species within the aquatic environment. For example, reduced DO concentrations have been shown to interfere with fish population through delayed hatching of eggs, reduced size and vigor of embryos, production of deformities in young, interference with food digestion, acceleration of blood clotting, decreased tolerance to certain toxicants, reduced food efficiency and growth rate, and reduced maximum sustained swimming speed. Fish food organisms are likewise affected adversely in conditions with suppressed DO. Since all aerobic aquatic organisms need a certain amount of oxygen, the consequences of total lack of dissolved oxygen due to a high BOD can kill all inhabitants of the affected area. If a high BOD is present, the quality of the water is usually visually degraded by the presence of decomposing materials and algae blooms due to the uptake of degraded materials that form the foodstuffs of the algal populations. QllSffiica l_Ox Y2§Q_ Demand_ ICOD Under the proper conditions the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test can be used as an alternative to the BOD test. The COD test is widely used as a means of measuring the total amount of oxygen required for oxidation of organics to carbon dioxide and water by the action of a strong oxidizing agent under acid conditions. It differs from the BOD test in that it is independent of biological assimilability. The major disadvantage of the COD test is that it does not distinguish between biologically active and inert organics. The major advantages are: 1) that it can be conducted in a matter of hours or continuously in an automatic analyzer, and 2) it is not affected by retardation of biological activity. In some instances, COD can be correlated to BOD data and the COD test can then be used as a substitute for the BOD test. J ------- Phenol s Phenols and phenolic wastes are derived from petroleum, coke, and chemical industries; wood distillation; and domestic and animal wastes. Many phenolic compounds are more toxic than pure phenol; their toxicity varies with the combinations and general nature of total wastes. The effect of combinations of different phenolic compounds is cumulative. Phenols and phenolic compounds are both acutely and chronically toxic to fish and other aquatic animals. Also, chlorophenols produce an unpleasant taste in fish flesh that destroys their recreational and commercial value. It is necessary to limit phenolic compounds in raw water used for drinking water supplies, as conventional treatment methods used by water supply facilities do not remove phenols. The ingestion of concentrated solutions of phenols will result in severe pain, renal irritation, shock and possibly death. Phenols also reduce the utility of water for certain industrial uses, notably food and beverage processing, where it creates unpleasant tastes and odors in the product. Color Wastewaters in the furniture manufacturing segment of the timber products processing industry may obtain color from finishing materials. Color in itself has little health related signficance, but is primarily an aesthetic concern. Oil and grease exhibit an oxygen demand. Oil emulsions may adhere to the gills of fish or coat and destroy algae or other plankton. Deposition of oil in the bottom sediments can serve to exhibit normal benthic growths, thus interrupting the aquatic food chain. Soluble and emulsified material ingested by fish may taint the flavor of the fish flesh. Water soluble components may exert toxic action on fish. Floating oil may reduce the re-aeration of the water surface and in conjunction with emulsified oil may interfere with photosynthesis. Water insoluble components damage the plumage and costs of water animals and fowls. Oil and grease in a water can result in the formation of objectionable surface slicks preventing the full aesthetic enjoyment of the water. Oil spills can damage the surface of boats and can destroy the aesthetic characteristics of beaches and shorelines. ------- As indicated previously, the inorganic ions produced by certain fabricating and finishing operations depend on the formulations used in the processes. If released to receiving streams, these ions can be detrimental to the aquatic biota and to fish life. If waste water and water treatment plants are not designed specifically for the removal of these ions, some of them will pass through the plants. Section VII, Control and Treatment Technology., discusses methods for preventing the release of such substances. ------- SECTION VII CONTROL AND TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY This section identifies, documents, and verifies as completely as possible the full range of control and treatment technology which exists or has the potential to exist within each industrial subcategory identified in Section IV. In addition, it develops the control and treat- ment alternatives applicable to the model plants developed in Section V. Historically, waste water has been of little concern in the furniture and fixture manufacturing industry. Primary concern has been with air emissions from boilers and spray booths. Essentially no literature exists and no studies have been previously conducted on the subject of waste water generation by furniture factories. A survey of the industry reveals that an estimated 9^ percent of all furniture factories either discharge their waste waters to a municipal sewage system, contract them to be hauled away by commercial disposal companies, or use a combination of these disposal methods. The remaining 5 percent, however, represent some of the nation's largest factories and, as indicated in Section V, larger factories tend to have more waste water than smaller plants. In-plant control measures to reduce the volume of waste water generated by the application of glue consist of various clean-up techniques. One of these techniques consists of scraping the mixing tanks, glue spreaders, and other surfaces prior to clean-up with water. This practice, along with high pressure hoses, can reduce the total amount of water appreciably. Another technique involves the use of steam or steam-water mixtures on metal surfaces. It is estimated that such techniques as these, and water conservation in general, can reduce the volume of clean-up water from 50 percent UOO liters (100 gallons) per clean-up to less than 200 liters (50 gallons) . Past in-plant air pollution control measures have caused a transition from the dry spray booth to water curtain or cavity back pan type booths, and have thus resulted in a source of process waste water. As indicated in Section III, the batch discharge from wet spray booths occurs on approximately a weekly basis. In some cases the discharge ------- is on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning as a matter of operating convenience, but even in cases where the discharge is not on a weekly basis, it occurs generally on a regular basis. A prolonging of the batch life of wet spray booth waters would decrease the total discharge volume, if not the total mass of pollutants, and, in terms of both water conservation and waste water handling, would be advantageous. However, the water cannot be used past the point at which its efficiency for spray removal is decreased, and this point would appear to be near the one-week interval. Each particular operation should be judged by factory management and, as a general management technique, the water held as long as possible without a loss in spray booth efficiency. A few factories operate laundries in association with finishing operations for laundering of rags. Since the volume of water used and the resulting waste water is fixed by the number of loads washed and the capacity and number of cycles of the washers, the ability to reduce waste water flow and concentration is limited. EXISTING_END-OF-LINE_TREATMENT Existing end-of-line treatment is primarily a function of plant location. The vast majority of plants are located near municipalities and utilize a municipal treatment system as their disposal method. As illustrated by Table 7, approximately 60 percent of the plants surveyed discharge all or part of their waste water to municipal sewer systems or haul it to landfill. It is estimated, however,that the actual percentage of plants discharging to municipal sewer systems or hauling to landfill probably exceeds 90 percent. The discrepancy in the above percentages is because of the fact that a high percentage of the plants visited were the larger plants in the industry which utilize disposal methods other than these to a greater extent than smaller plants. The alternate disposal methods observed include septic tanks with tile fields and lagooning. Septic tanks followed by tile fields may provide a reasonable degree of treatment in some cases. However, the efficiency of treatment is dependent on the nature of the waste water, soil type, hydrologic conditions, and other factors which preclude septic tanks from consideration as a recommended treatment system. Oxidation ponds or lagoons may provide a degree of treatment, but still result in the discharge of contaminated waste water. The only furniture plant (Number 10) observed to have a continuous discharge to ------- TABLE 7 WASTE WATER DISPOSAL METHODS EMPLOYED BY PLANTS Sb'RVEYED Plant 1 2 3 U 5 •7 I 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 IT 19 20 21 23 Wastewater Source Spray Booth Glue Waste Spray Booth Steam Bending Glue Waste Spray Booths Glue Waste Wet Booth Laundry Spray Booth Skimmings Spray Booths Laundry Wet Booth Glue Waste Glue Waste Laundry Spray Booths Glue Waste Bleaching Waste Wet Booth Laundry Laundry Laundry Laundry Spray Booth Spray Booth Disposal Method Hauled by Contractor Storm Drain Septic Tank No treatment Municipal Sewer Hauled by Contractor No treatment Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Hauled by Contractor Lagoon & Discharge Lagoon & Discharge Hauled by Contractor Municipal Sewer Lagoon Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Storm Drain Storm Drain Hauled by Contractor Septic Tank Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer Municipal Sewer ------- navigable waters utilized four lagoons in series to treat its laundry and spray booth waste waters. A reduction of approximately 50 percent in COD was observed. POTENTIAL_TREATMENT_TECHNOLOGY Potential treatment technologies considered applicable for furniture and fixture plants are the following: 1. Incineration via spraying on hog fuel 2. Evaporation ponds 3. Spray irrigation u. Trucking to landfill Spraying of waste waters on hog fuel is a viable alternative in those cases where the volume of waste water is sufficiently low and a hog fuel boiler exists on-site. This sytem may increase the moisture content of the hog fuel and require more energy to operate the boilers. Because of the nature of the waste waters, negligible increases in ash can be expected. Evaporation pond operation involves the concentration of waste water in a lined lagoon by natural or mechanical evaporation with the accumulated sludge being deposited in a landfill. In regions where yearly precipitation exceeds evaporation, a spray mechanism is necessary, and the resulting energy requirements, as discussed in Section VIII, are relatively high. Spray irrigation utilizes soil microorganisms' ability to decompose organic matter in addition to the soil's natural filtering ability to achieve waste water treatment and disposal. With proper design and operation, there is little danger of groundwater contamination. In application of this technique to furniture factory waste water, pretreatment consisting of sedimentation and skimming is usually nec- essary. DESCRIPTION_OF_MODEL_SYSTEMS The recommended treatment alternatives are considered applicable to all four model plants with the exception that spray irrigation alternative is considered applicable only to the Model Plants 2 and U. This is because of the fact that the waste water from these two models contains laundry wastes and is considered to be more biodegradable than the effluent from Model Plants 1 and 3. Discharge to municipal treatment systems is considered to be a viable alternative. Pretreatment, if required, may consist of neutralization or ------- screening and will vary with each state or municipality. The remaining model treatment systems are as follows: Alternative __ A - This alternative consists of no control and treatment and results in no reduction in waste water volume or concentration. Alternative __ B - Alternative B, illustrated in Figure 10, consists~of a flat screen with 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) openings, a sump with sufficient capacity to hold all plant waste waters for a week, and a pump and sufficient hose to transport the waste water to a tank truck. It is assumed that a truck can be contracted to haul the waste water on a weekly basis and, as demonstrated in practice, that the waste water is acceptable for landfill disposal. The specific equipment capacities required for each model plant are given in Table 8. _C ~ Alternative C, incineration of waste water by" spraying on the plant's hog fuel, is shown in Figure 10. This system requires a flat screen with 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) openings, a sump, a pump, and sufficient piping and valves to allow spraying the waste water on the hog fuel prior to injecting the fuel into the furnace. It is assumed that a hog fuel boiler is already in existence in the plant. The required pump and sump capacities for each model plant are presented in Table 9. .. __ D ~ This alternative provides for the evaporation "of all waste water from a plant. All systems require a sump and a transfer pump for pumping the waste water from the plant to the evaporation pond. The size requirements for the ponds for each model plant are presented in Tables 10 and 11. The pond sizes are bas'ed on yearly precipitation and evaporation data for five areas where furniture plants are commonly located. In areas where precipitation exceeds rainfall (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greensboro, N.C.; and New England), mechanical spray units, consisting of a pump and spray nozzles, are required to provide adequate evaporative capacity to evaporate the entire yearly waste water flow as well as excess precipitation. The spray units are designed for a five month operating period. In two of the areas (Dallas, Texas; and Los Angeles, California) , the yearly evaporation exceeds the yearly precipitation, therefore, only shallow ponds are required. Alternative __ S ~ This alternative consists of spray irrigation "with pretreatment to remove settleable materials and a portion of the biodegradable content of the waste ------- 3.2mm { SCREEN \ FROM PLANT \ SUMP HOSE PUMP TRUCK TO LANDFILL WEEKLY 3.2mm ( '/8 ) SCREEN v FROM PLANT \ <;i i w P PUMP SPRAY ON HOG FUEL DAILY FIGURE 10 TREATMENT ALTERNATIVES B AND C ------- TABLE 8 TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE B, EQUIPMENT SUMMARY Sump Capacity Pump Capacity Pump Power Requirements Volume Hauled Per Week Model 1 2 3 1* (ft3) 5 (175) 30 (1,01*0) 15 (590) 1*0 (1,1*60) liter/sec (gpm) (50) 3 (50) 3 (50) (80) kw (hp) 1.5 (2.0) 1.5 (2.0) 1.5 (2.0) l.Q (2.5) liters (gal) 1*,000 (1,000) 20,000 (6,000) 13,000 32,000 (8,1*00) Trips Per Year 35 208 118 292 In addition to the above, other equipment requirements are piping, valves, controls, flat screen with 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) openings, and a 6.0 m_3_ (1500 gal) capacity contracted tank truck. ------- TABLE 9 TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE C, EQUIPMENT SUMMARY Pump Pover Sump Capacity Pump Capacity Requirements cu- m Ips kv Model (cu ft) ' (gpm) (hp) 1 1.0 1 0.56 (35) (20) (0.75) 2 10 3 1.5 (50) (2.0) 3 13 2 0.75 (1*56) (25) (1.0) It Ul U 1.5 (1,1*60) (60) (2.0) In addition to the above, other equipment requirements are piping, valves, spray nozzles, and controls. ------- TABLE 10 TREATMENT ALTEP.1IATIYE D, EVAPORATION PC-IDS Evaporation Pond Size & Depth Dallas, Los Angeles, Greensboro, Grand Papids, Model Units Hew England Texjas California N . C . '-fi chigan 1 s qn2 (sqft2) m (ft) 2 sq2 (sqft2j n (ft) 3 sqn2 (sqft_2) r. (ft) ij s qm2 (sqft2_) m (ft) 5? (625) ? . Q (9.5) 2lG (2,60G) l-.O (13) 190 (2,000) •5 . o Uc) 330 (3,600) ii " (is!i) 51? (5,510) 0.7 ! -i i\ (S.3) 3,070 (33,050) 0.7 (2.3) 1.7^0 (1?,73C) 0 ^ \s • I (2.3) li,276 (U6.270) 0.7 (2.3) 323 (3,^75) 0.3 (1) 1,9' 8 (20,860) C. 7> (1) 1 ,008 (ll,8?C) p -3 (1) 2,710 (29,200) 0 Q, "(1) 58 (625) 3.U (11) 27Q (3,000) y.c (13) IPO (2,000) "^.5 (11.5) ?QO (li,200) k.C (13) 58 (f?5) "5 ^ (10.^^ 280 (?,POO) 'J >•> ( 12 . 5 ) :QO (2,000) 3.^ (11 ) 370 (U,000) li.O (13) In addition to the above, other equipment requirements are piping, valves, controls, flat screen with 3.2 mm. (1/8 inch) openings, and an evaporator Dump as shewn in Table 11. ------- TABLE 11 ALTERNATIVE D, SPRAY EVAPORATION Evaporation Pump Hours/Day del 1 2 •5 k New England* 2.5 13.5 7.5 13.5 Dallas , Texas none none none none L.A., Calif. none none none none Greensboro, N.C.* 2.5 13.5 7.5 19.0 Grand Rapids, Mich 2.5 13.0 7.5 18.5 ^Evaporator pump is 15 kw. (?0 hp) evaporating at O.l8 I/sec (2.79 Number pumps required = one. Pumps operate 5 months/year. ------- FROM PLANT A SPRAY NOZZLES --/ i A \f O—f V A. yi *-* ; -x" LAGOON PUMP PI an-view of Evaporation Pond with Mechanical Spray Unit Profile of Evaporation Pond FIGURE 11 TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE D, EVAPORATION PONDS ------- water. This is accomplished, as illustrated in Figure 12, by pumping the waste water to two ponds in series in which settling and skimming are accomplished. The settled and skimmed waste water is then adjusted to proper pH by acid addition prior to its entering a small aeration pond. The aeration pond effluent is then sprayed on an irrigation field at an application rate of 5600 liters per hectare (600 gallons per acre) per day. As noted previously, this alternative is considered applicable for Model Plants 2 and U only. The specific equipment requirements for each model plant are presented in Table 12. ------- FROM PLANT SETTLING AND SKIMMING PONDS AERATOR —X O TO SPRAY IRRIGATION AERATION POND FIGURE 12 TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE E, SPRAY IRRIGATION WITH PRETREATMENT ------- TABLE 12 TREATMENT E, SPRAY IRRIGATION SPRAY IRRIGATION AERATION SUMP CAPACITY TRANSFER PUMP FIELD SIZE SETTLING POND POND cu m OPERATION TIME hectares DENTENTION TIME DETENTION MODEL (cu ft) min/day (acres) days TIME days 2 2 50 0.8 50 100 (80) (2) k 17 70 1.2 36 72 (630) (3) In addition to the above, the equipment requirements are piping, valves, controls, flat screen with 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) openings, and a O.h kw (0.5 hp) 1.5 Ips (2U gpm) capacity transfer pump and an 8 kw (10 hp) aerator. ------- SECTION VIII COST, ENERGY, AND NON-WATER QUALITY ASPECTS This section presents an evaluation of the costs, energy requirements, and non-water quality aspects associated with the treatment and control alternatives developed in Section VII in terms of the model processes and plants developed in Section V. CQST_ANp_REpUCTION_BENEFITS_OF_ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT END_CONTROL~TECHNOLOGIES~ In absence of complete cost information for individual processes, the cost figures developed herein are based on reliable actual cost figures reported for various installations coupled with engineering estimates. Adequate engineering estimates for a single installation must necessarily involve consideration of a multitude of factors. An estimate completely applicable to all members of an entire industry subcategory is obviously impossible. Land costs and construction cost, in terms of both labor and materials cost, are only two items that vary widely from plant to plant. Therefore, the costs presented herein are intended to serve as a guide only. The engineering estimates for all cost analyses in this section employed the following assumptions: 1. Excavation cost = $2.29/cu m (1.75/cu yd). 2. contract labor = $10.QO/hr. 3. Power costs = 2.32/kw hr. t». All costs reported in August 1971 dollars. 5. Trucking haul cost = $20.00/trip. 6. Landfill fee = $2.64/cu m ($10.00/1000 gal) for sludge. 7. Landfill fee = $2.75/kkg ($2.50/ton). 8. Tank truck assumed to be of 5.68 cu m (1500 gal) capacity. 9. Annual interest rate for capital cost = 8 percent. ------- 10. Salvage value of zero over 20 years for physical facilities and equipment. 11. Depreciation is straight line. 12. Total yearly cost = (investment cost/2) (0.08) + (investment cost) (0.05) + yearly operating cost. The model plant developed in Section V for this subcategory has a total average daily waste water flow of 760 liters (200 gallons) and includes no laundry or spray booth waste water. Alternative A - This alternative assumes no control or treatment. The resulting wasteload for this subcategory is 760 liters per day (200 gallons per day) , a COD load of 20 kilograms per day (43 pounds per day) , and a total solids load of 11 kilograms per day (31 pounds per day) . The costs of control and treatment for Alternative A are as follows: Total Investment Costs $0 X§a.rly._Ogerating_Costs 12 Total Yearly Costs $0 There are no reductions in COD or suspended solids associated with Alternative A. Ai£ernative_B ~ This alternative consists of hauling the waste water on a weekly basis by tank truck to a landfill. The costs of control and treatment are as follows: Total Investment Costs $3,200 X§IElY._°.E§Eatin3_Costs llz.230 Total YearIy~Costs $1,520 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 13. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Ai£ir.Q§Liiv.§_Q ~ This alternative assumes the availability of incineration in the form of a hog fuel boiler. The waste ------- TABLE 13 ITEMIZED COST SUM/IAHY FOP. ALTERNATIVE B, f'CPE Investment Costs: Screen * Suir.p Pump n-,OOC Piping, Valves, etc. 800 Engineering @1.Q% 300 Contingencies $10 5 300 TOTAL 137-CO Operating and Maintenance : Screen Punip Piping, Valves, Etc. Trucking to Landfill TOTAL S UQ ------- water is screened and sprayed onto the hog fuel prior to burning. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative C are as follows: Total Investment Costs $2,300 X§§£lY._22§£§£iD3_C.2§ts $_ 12P_ Total Yearly~Costs ~ $ ~380 An itemized cost breakdown for Alternative C is presented in Table 14. The reduction benefits for Alternative C are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. D - This alternative consists of the use of evaporation ponds discussed in Section VII. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative D are as follows: Los Grand New Dallas Angeles Greensboro Rapids England Texas Calif. N.C. Mich. Total Investment Costs $19,000 $8,400 $6,100 $20,900 $20,90^ Yearly Operating Costs $ 1,440 $ 315 $ 265 $ 1,450 $ 1,450 Total Yearly Costs $ 3,220 $1,070 $ 815 $ 3,330 $ 3,330 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 15. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of pollutants. F - This alternative consists of discharging to a sewer for treatment in a municipal treatment system. It is assumed that the model plant is presently discharging to the municipal treatment system and that no pretreatment is required. A minimum monthly sewer charge of $25 is assumed. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment Costs $ 0 X§§£iY_QE§E§£i.S2_S2§t§ $300 Total Yearly Costs $300 ------- TABLE 14 ITEMIZED COST SlIL'-MARY FOR ALTERNATIVE C, MODEL Investment Cost: Screen $ LOC Sump ^00 Pump ^00 Piping, Valves, Etc. P00 Engineering ?1C?? 200 Contingencies ?10f _200_ TOTAL Operating and liaintenance: Screen Sump Pump Piping, Valves, Etc. TOTAL ------- TABLE 15 ITFMI77T; CCHT SUMT7VRY FOE ALTERNATIVE ^ INVESTMENT COST: ITEM New England Dallas, Texas L.A., Calif. Greensboro, IT.C. Grand Rapids, Mich. 1. 2. 3. It. 5. Lagoon Control Structure & Liner Spray Units Land Engineering Contingencies $3,500 $6,200 12,600 300 700 (0.07ha) (0.17ha) 1,600 700 1,800 600 $19, BOO $8, lOQ $^,500 $ ^,LOO $U,ltOO 12,600 12,600 500 ?00 300 (0.13ha) (0.07ha) (0.07ha) 500 1,700 1,700 600 1,900 1,900 $6,100 $20,900 $20,900 OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE: 1. 2. Operation and Maintenance Power $ 1 ,330 $ 310 110 5 $ 260 $ 1,3J-0 fl,-5lO 5 110 ] 10 $. l.U-O : ,1*50 $1150 ------- The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Subcategory II The model plant developed in Section V for this subcategory has a total average daily waste water flow of 4550 liters (1200 gallons) and includes 760 liters per day (200 gallons per day) of glue wastes and 3790 liters per day (1000 gallons per day) of laundry wastes. Alternative __ A - This alternative assumes no control or treatment. The resulting wasteload for this subcategory is 4550 liters per day (1200 gallons per day), a COD load of 69 kilograms per day (152 pounds per day), and a total solids load of 59 kilograms per day (130 pounds per day) . The costs of control and treatment for Alternative A are as follows: Total Investment Costs $0 X§§£lY._2B§rJl£iS3_c.2§£§ $P_ Total Yearly~Costs $0 There are no reductions in COD or suspended solids associated with Alternative A. Alternative_B - This alternative consists of hauling the waste water on a weekly basis by tank truck to a landfill. The costs of control and treatment are as follows: Total Investment Costs $3,200 XS§£lY_2E§£§tiG9_Cgsts £6.^390 Total Yearly Costs" $6,680 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 16. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. ^l£§£HS£i2§_Q ~ This alternative assumes the availability of incineration in the form of a hog fuel boiler. The waste water is screened and sprayed onto the hog fuel prior to burning. ------- TABLE 16 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE B, MODEL 2 Investment Cost Screen $ UOO Sump UOO Pump 1,000 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @10$ 300 Contingencies @ 10% 300 TOTAL $3,200 Operating and Maintenance Screen $ i+0 Sump 90 Pump 60 Piping, Valves, Etc. 80' Trucking to Landfill 6,120 TOTAL $6,390 ------- The costs of control and treatment for Alternative C are as follows: Total Investment Costs XS§£lY_2E§£§ting_C Total Yearly Costs $3,400 $ _23C $ 540 An itemized cost breakdown for Alternative C is presented in Table 17. The reduction benefits for Alternative C are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Alternative^!) - This alternative consists of the use of evaporation ponds as discussed in Section VII. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative D are as follows: Los Grand New Dallas Angeles Greensboro Rapids England Texas Calif. N.C. Mich. Total Investment Costs yearly Operating Costs $ 4,190 $ Total Yearly Costs $23,900 $25,600 $12,300 $24,500 $24,500 705 525 4,200 4,080 $ 6,340 $ 3,010 $ 1,630 $ 6,410 $ 6,290 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 18. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. A!fe§£2Si:iy.§ I ~ This alternative consists of spray irrigation with pretreatment to reduce suspended solids and organic materials. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment Costs Yearly Operating Costs Total Yearly Costs $28,300 $ 9,080 $11,630 J ------- TABLE 17 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE C, MODEL 2 Investment Cost: Screen $ lj.00 Sump 600 Pump 1,000 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @10% 300 Contingencies % 1Q% 300 TOTAL $3,UOO Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ liO Sump 60 Pump 50 Piping, Valves, Etc. 80 TOTAL | 230" , r» - J ------- TABLE 18 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE D, MODEL 2 INVESTMENT COSTS: Item New England 1. 2. 3. IK 5. Lagoon, Control Structure , Liner Spray Units Land Engineering Contingencies $ 6,600 12,600 500 (0.13 ha) 2,000 2,200 $23,900 Dallas , Texas $18,900 — 2,300 (0.56 ha) 2,100 2,300 $25,600 L.A., Calif. $ 8,600 — 1,600 (0.38 ha) 1,000 1,100 $12,300 Greensboro, N.C. $ 7,100 12,600 600 (O.lUO ha) 2,000 2,200 $2^,500 Grand Rapids, Mich. $ 7,100 12,600 600 (O.lU ha) 2,000 2.200- $2U,500 OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE: 1. 2. Item Operation and Maintenance Power $3,610 580 $ TOO 5 $ 520 5 $ 3,620 580 $ 3,520 560 $ U.190 705 525 $ 1,200 $ 1*,080 ------- An itemized breakdown of the costs for this alternative are presented in Table 19. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Alternative_F - This alternative consists of discharging to a municipal sewer for treatment in a municipal treatment system. It is assumed that the model plant is presently discharging to the municipal treatment system and that no pretreatment is required. A minimum 'monthly charge of $25 is assumed. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment Costs $ 0 X§iElY._Op.erating_Costs $300 Total Yearly Costs" $300 The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants . 1 1 1 The model plant developed in Section V for this subcategory has a total average daily waste water flow of 25 8U liters (680 gallons) and includes 760 liters per day (200 gallons per day) of glue wastes and 9120 liters per week (2400 gallons per week) of spray booth waste water. ....-A - This alternative assumes no control or treatment. The resulting wasteload for this subcategory is 258U liters per day (680 gallons per day) , a COD load of 105 kilograms per day (230 pounds per day) , and a total solids load of 92 kilograms per day (203 pounds per day) . The costs of control and treatment for Alternative A are as follows: Total Investment Costs $0 Xs§EiY._2Ee.E§ting_Cgsts $0_ Total Yearly Costs $0 There are no reductions in COD or suspended solids associated with Alternative A. Alternative __ B - This alternative consists of hauling the waste water on a weekly basis by tank truck to a landfill. ------- TABLE 19 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE E, MODEL 2 Investment Costs: Screen $ 400 Sump 300 Pump, Sump to Settling Basins 400 Settling Basins (2) 4,700 pH Control 1,700 Aeration Pond 4,900 Aerator 2,500 Pump, Aeration to Spray Irrigation 700 Spray Irrigation Field 7,000 Piping, Valves, etc. 800 Engineering @10% 2,300 Contingencies 010% 2,600 TOTAL $28,300 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ 40 Sump 20 Pump 30 Settling Basins 110 pH Control 1,000 Aerator and Basin 1,500 Irrigation Field, Equipment 6,300 Pump, Aeration to Spray Irrigation 40 Piping, Valves, Etc. 4£ TOTAL $ 9,080 ------- The costs of control and treatment are as follows: Total Investment Costs Yearly_Op_erating_Costs Total Yearly Costs $3,600 $3^,720 $4,040 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 20. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. C - This alternative assumes the availability of incineration in the form of a hog fuel boiler. The waste water is screened and sprayed on the hog fuel prior to burning. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative C are as follows: Total Investment Costs 2§^ElZ_22§£§feiS3_C Total Yearly Costs $3,200 $ 220 $ sTc An itemized cost breakdown for Alternative C is presented in Table 21. The reduction benefits for Alternative C are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Alternative D - This alternative consists of pond evaporation of the waste water as discussed in Section VII. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative D are as follows: Los Grand New Dallas Angeles Greensboro Rapids England Texas Calif. N.C. Mich. Total Investment Costs $22,300 $13,800 $10,800 $22,700 $22,700 Yearly Operating Costs " $ 2,700 $ 515 $ 395 $ 2,700 $ 2,700 Total Yearly Costs $ 4,710 $ 1,760 $ 1,370 $ 4,740 $ 4,740 ------- TABLE 20 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE B, MODEL 3 Investment Cost: Screen $ 400 Sump 800 Pump 1,000 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering, @10% 300 Contingencies @10% 300 TOTAL $3,600 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ 40 Sump 80 Pump 50 Piping, Valves, Etc. 80 Trucking to Landfill 3.470 TOTAL $3,720 TABLE 21 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE C, MODEL 3 Investment Cost: Screen $ 400 Sump 700 Pump 700 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @10% 300 Contingencies @1C% 300 TOTAL $3,200 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ 40 Sump 70 Pump 30 Piping, Valves, Etc. 80 TOTAL I 210" ------- An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 22. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Alternative __ F - This alternative consists of discharging to a municipal sewer for treatment in a municipal treatment system. It is assumed that the model plant is presently discharging to the municipal treatment system and that no pretreatment is required. A minimum monthly sewer charge of $25 per month is assumed. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment Costs $ 0 X§§ElY_2B§£§ting_Costs 1300 Total Yearly Costs ~ $300 The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. The model plant developed in Section V for this subcategory has a total average daily waste water flow of 6374 liters (1680 gallons) and includes 4550 liters per day (1200 gallons per day) of glue wastes and laundry waste waters and 9120 liters per week (2400 gallons per week) of spray booth waste water. A - This alternative assumes no control or treatment. The resulting wasteload for this subcategory is 6374 liters per day (1680 gallons per day), a COD load of 154 kilograms per day (339 pounds per day) , and a total solids load of 145 kilograms per day (319 pounds per day). The costs of control and treatment for Alternative A are as follows: Total Investment Costs $0 X®§EiY._QE§E§iiB2_Costs _$?__ Total Yearly Costs $0 There are no reductions in COD or suspended solids associated with Alternative A. ------- TABLE 22 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE D, MODEL 3 INVESTMENT COSTS: Item ]. Lagoon, Control Structures, Liner 2. Spray Units 3. Land 4. Engineering 5. Contingencies OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE: Item ]. Operation and Maintenance 2. Power New England $ 5,300 ]2,600 500 (0.]] ha) ],900 2,000 $22,300 :E: $ 2,380 320 $ 2,700 Dallas, Texas $ 9,900 -- ],500 (0.37 ha) ],]00 ]5300 $]3,800 $ 5]0 5 $ 5]5 L.A., Calif. $ 7,800 -- 1,100 (0.25 ha) 900 ],000 $10,800 $ 390 5 $ 395 Greensboro, N.C. $ 5,600 ]2,600 500 (0.11 ha) 1,900 2,100 $22,700 $ 2,380 320 $ 2,700 Grand Rapids, Mich. $ 5,600 J2.600 500 (0.11 ha) 1,900 2,100 $22,700 $ 2,380 320 $ 2,700 ------- Alternative_B_ - This alternative consists of hauling the waste water on a weekly basis by tank truck to a landfill. The costs of control and treatment are as follows: Total Investment Costs X§arlY_Qp.erating_Costs Total Yearly Costs $4,500 $8.1.890 $9,300 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 23. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Alternative^ - This alternative assumes the availability of incineration in the form of a hog fuel boiler. The waste water is screened and sprayed onto the hog fuel prior to burning. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative C are as follows: Total Investment Costs XearlY_Op_erating_Costs Total Yearly Costs $3,600 $ 260 $ 580 An itemized cost breakdown for Alternative C is presented in Table 24. The reduction benefits for Alternative C are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. Aiternative D - This alternative consists of pond evaporation of the waste water as discussed in Section VII. The costs of control and treatment for Alternative D are as follows: Total Investment Costs Yearly Operating Costs Total Yearlv New Dallas Encrland Texas Los Grand Angeles Greensboro Rapids Calif. N.C. Mich. $25,600 $34,000 $19,400 $26,200 $25,600 $ 5,560 $ 875 $ 625 $ 5,570 $ 5,570 ------- TABLE 23 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE B, MODEL Investment Cost: Screen $ Sump 1,200 Pump 1,300 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @IO% ^00 Contingencies @10$ ^00 TOTAL $U,500 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ ^0 Sump 120 Pump TO Piping, Valves, Etc. 80 Trucking to Landfill __ 8,580 TOTAL $8,890 TABLE 24 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE C, MODEL k Investment Cost: Screen $ Sump 800 Pump 1,000 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @10$ 300 Contingencies @10$ 300 TOTAL $3,600 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ ^0 Sump 80 Pump 60 Piping, Valves, Etc. 80 TOTAL "1 260 ------- Costs $ 7,860 $ 3,9UO $ 2,370 $ 7,930 $ 7,740 An itemized cost breakdown for this alternative is presented in Table 25. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants, I ~ This alternative consists of spray irrigation with pretreatment to reduce suspended solids and organic materials. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment Costs $32,700 Y.§§r.Iy._°.E§ESting_Costs $ 9^090 Total Yearly~Costs ~ $12,030 An itemized breakdown of the costs for this alternative are presented in Table 26. The reduction benefits for this alternative are 100 percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants. E ~ This alternative consists of discharging to a municipal sewer for treatment in a municipal treatment system. It is assumed that the model plant is presently discharging to the municipal treatment system and that no pretreatment is required. A minimum monthly sewer charge of $25 is assumed. The costs of control and treatment for this alternative are as follows: Total Investment costs $ 0 X§§£lY_22§£§£iQ2_Qosts $300 Total Yearly Costs $300 The reduction benefits for this alternative are 10C percent reduction of the discharge of process waste water pollutants . RELATED ENERGY REQUIREMENTS OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT AND CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES The energy requirements associated with each control and treatment alternative are presented in Table 27. Because of ------- TABLE 25 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE D, MODEL C J -4 INVESTMENT COSTS: 1. Lagoon, Control Struc-tTures, Liner 2. Spray Units 3. Land U. Engineering 5. Contingencies OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE: Item 1. Operation and Maintenance 2. Power New England $ 8,000 12,600 600 (0.15 ha) 2,100 2,300 $25,600 $ U,7l*0 820 $ 5,560 Dallas , Texas $25,000 — 3,000 (0.72 ha) 2,800 3,100 $3*1,000 $ 870 5 $ 875 L.A., Calif. $lU,000 — 2,000 (O.W ha) 1,600 1,800 $19,^00 $ 620 5 $ 625 Greensboro, N.C. $ 8,300 12,600 700 (0.16 ha) 2,200 2,UOO $26,200 $ U.T50 820 $ 5,570 Grand Rapids, Mich. $ 8,000 12,600 600 (0.15 ha) 2,100 2,300 $25,600 $ !4,6UO 800 $ 5, MUD ------- TABLE 26 ITEMIZED COST SUMMARY FOR ALTERNATIVE E, MODEL U Investment Costs: Screen $ ^00 Sump 800 Pump, Sump to Settling Basins ^00 Settling Basins (2) ^,700 pH Control 1,700 Aeration Pond 14,900 Aerator 2,500 Pump, Aeration to Spray Irrigation TOO Spray Irrigation Field 10,100 Piping, Valves, Etc. 800 Engineering @10$ 2,700 Contingencies @10$ 3,000 TOTAL $32,700 Operating and Maintenance: Screen $ ^0 Sump 30 Pump 30 Settling Basins 110 pH Control 1,000 Aerator and Basin 1,500 Irrigation Field, Equipment 6,300 Pump ^0 Piping, Valves, Etc. _ TOTAL $ 9,090 ------- TABLE 27 ENERGY REQUIREMENTS Alternative A B C D* E Model All 1 2 3 U 1 2 3 k I 2 3 It 2 h Kw-hrs/yr 0 39 157 91 170 35 196 96 196 U,780 2^,780 13,910 3^,220 65,630 65,630 Dollars/yr 0.00 0.90 3.60 2.10 3.90 0.80 U.50 2.20 4.50 110.00 570.00 320.00 810.00 1,510.00 1,510.00 *Average energy requirement for model plants in regions requiring mechanical spray units ------- the small volumes of waste water to be handled and the uncomplicated control techniques employed, the energy requirements for all alternatives are small. Of the recommended alternatives, spray evaporation and spray irrigation require the highest degree of energy consumption and, consequently, may be less desirable than one of the remaining alternatives. NON-WATER QUALITY ASPECTS OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT AND CONTROL'TECHNOLOGIES" Non-water quality aspects of the recommended alternative control and treatment technologies, including energy requirements as discussed above, are considered minimal. The non-water quality aspects which are applicable to each alternative are discussed below. Alternative_B, Haul_tg_Landfill, has the potential for non- water quality impact only where final landfill disposal is not done properly. Disposal in properly designed and managed landfills should result in minimal impact. Alternative C, SpraY_on_Ho2_Fuel, may result in an increase in energy consumption by the boiler because of the increase in moisture content of the hog fuel. The potential also exists for increased air emissions resulting from the incineration of the waste water and for some increase in solid wastes from increased ash in the boiler. All of the above are estimated to be minimal and will probably not result in measurable impact on any non-water quality aspect. Alternative_Dx_Eva£oratign_Ponds, when utilizing mechanical spray units will require the highest energy consumption as discussed above. The use of evaporation ponds results in a buildup of solids in the pond which may eventually require dredging and landfill disposal. This should result in no non-water quality aspects if disposal is to a properly designed landfill. Aitej^ative_Ex._Sp.ray__Irrigation should result in minimal non-water quality impact. The pretreatment operations recommended should reduce or eliminate the potential for ground or surface water contamination. ------- SECTION IX BEST PRACTICABLE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE The effluent limitations which must be achieved by July 1, 1977, are to specify the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the Best Practicable Control Technology Currently Available. Best practicable control technology currently available is generally based on the average of best existing performance by plants of various sizes, ages, and unit processes within the industrial category and/or subcategory. Consideration must also be given to: a. The total cost of application of technology in relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved from such application; b. The size and age of eguipment and facilities involved; c. The process employed; d. The engineering aspects of the application of various types of control techniques; e. Process changes; f. Non-water quality environmental impact (including energy requirements); g. Availability of land for use in waste water treatment disposal. Best practicable control technology currently available emphasizes treatment facilities at the end of a manufacturing process but includes the control technologies within the process itself when these are considered to be normal practice within the industry. A further consideration is the degree of economic and engineering reliability which must be established for the technology to be "currently available." As a result of demonstration projects, pilot plants, and general use, there must exist a high degree of confidence in the engineering and economic practicability of the technology at the time of construction or installation of the control facilities. ------- In addition to the above factors, consideration should be given to furniture plants that form part of industrial complexes. While a numerical addition of pollutant loads from all operations will yield the total effluent load from a complex, several factors may affect the application of available control and treatment technology. In treatment of its total waste water discharge, the complex may have the advantages of economy of scale, improved potential for water recycle, and joint use of a unit process. It may also have the disadvantages of lack of available land, substantial previous investments in control and treatment technology that may not be applicable to recommended guidelines, alteration of waste water treatability as a result of combining of waste streams, or, if waste must be treated separately, the additional expense of segregation of the combined waste waters. Therefore the technology discussed in this document and the recommended effluent limitations may not necessarily apply to an industrial complex composed of individual plants or unit processes discussed in this or other effluent limitations documents. That is, wood furniture and fixture manufacturing facilities are allowed to discharge waste water to a treatment system servicing and industrial complex, however, with no allowance being given for additional discharge of pollutants from the treatment system attributable to the wood furniture manufacturing facility. EFFLUENT REDUCTION ATTAINABLE THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF BEST PRACTICABLE CONTROL~TECHNOLOGY~CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR FURNITURE'MANUFACTURING Based on the information contained in Sections III through VII of this document, it has been determined that the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available for all subcategories of the wood furniture and fixture manufacturing segment is no discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable waters. IDENTIFICATION OF BEST PRACTICABLE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY ~ The technology identified as the best practicalbe control technology currently available for the wood furniture manufacturing segment, as described in Section VTI, which will result in the elimination of waste water pollutant discharges requires the implementation of one of the following: 1. Disposal to municipal treatment system ------- 2. Trucking to land fill 3. Incineration via spraying on hog fuel 4. Evaporation ponds 5. Spray irrigation While all control technigues are considered to be viable alternatives, it must be noted that spray irrigation is limited to those subcategories which utilize laundries since these waste waters are the only ones considered to be sufficiently biodegradable for this treatment method. Also, spray irrigation requires an amount of land that may not be available in all cases. No pretreatment is assumed for municipal system disposal of waste waters; however in some cases, particularly when relatively large plants are located in small municipalities, pretreatment may be required. In general, all of the control techniques listed above are feasible and uncomplicated in nature. There should be no problems associated with their implementation within the time frame of the Act. The costs of attaining the recommended effluent reductions set forth herein are presented in Section VIII, Cost, Energy, and Non-Water Quality Aspects, and are summarized below: Capital Investment as Percent of New Capital* Total* Plant Cost (New 2!§.nt_Cost) ________ Model 1 $20,900 $ 3,330 1X ($4,000,000) Model 2 $28,300 $11,630 1% ($7,000,000) Model 3 $22,700 $ 4,740 1% ($5,000,000) Model 4 $32,700 $12,020 ±% ($6,000,000) *Cost are for the most expensive alternatives presented in Sections VII and VIII. ------- Non-Water_2ualitY_Environmental_Imgact Because of the relatively small volumes of water associated with wood furniture and fixture manufacturing, the non-water quality aspects, including energy consumption, of the various alternatives are considered to be negligible as discussed in Section VIII. Factor s_to_be_Considered_in_A2glYing_Effluent_Li.mit at ions The control technologies considered herein are based on normal furniture finishing operations. In the event that particular plants should employ non-typical finishing materials, the characteristics of the resulting waste waters may change appreciably and special consideration would be necessary. ------- SECTION X BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY ECONOMICALLY ACHIEVABLE The effluent limitations which must be achieved by July 1, 1983, are to specify the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best available technology economically achievable. The best available technology economically achievable is not based upon an average of the best performance within an industrial category, but is to be determined by identifying the very best control and treatment technology employed by a specific point source within the industrial category or subcategory, or transfer of technology where it is readily transferable from one industrial process to another. A specific finding must be made as to the availability of control measures and practices to eliminate the discharge of pollutants, takincr into account the cost of such elimination. Consideration must also be given to: (a) the age of equipment and facilities involved; (b) the process employed; (c) the engineering aspects of the application of various types of control techniques; (d) process changes; (e) cost of achieving the effluent reduction resulting from application of the best available technology economically achievable; and (f) non-water quality environmental impacts (including energy requirements). In contrast to the best practicable control technoloqy currently available, the best available technology economically achievable assesses the availability in all cases of in-process controls as well as control or additional treatment techniques employed at the end of a production process. Those plants processes and control technologies, which at the pilot plant semi-works, or other levels, have demonstrated both technological performances and economic viability at a level sufficient to reasonably justify investing in such facilities, may be considered in assessing ------- the best available technology economically achievable. The best available technology economically achievable is the highest degree of control technology that has been achieved or has been demonstrated to be capable of being designed for plant scale operation up to and including "no discharge" of pollutants. Although economic factors are considered in this development, the costs for this level of control are intended to be the top-of-the-line of current technology subject to limitations imposed by economic and engineering feasibility. EFFLUENT REDUCTION ATTAINABLE THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF BEST AVAILABLE~TECHNOLOGY~ECONOMICALLYACHIEVABLEFOR ALL SUBCATEGORIESOFTHE ~ WOODFURNITUREAND "FIXTURE MANUFACTURING SEGMENT The effluent limitations reflecting this technology are no discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable waters as developed in Section IX. ------- SECTION XI NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS This level of technology is to be achieved by new sources. The term "new source" is defined in the Act to mean "any source, the construction of which is commenced after the publication of proposed regulations prescribing a standard of performance." New source technology shall be evaluated by adding to the consideration underlying the identification of best available technology economically achievable a determination of what higher levels of pollution control are available through the use of improved production processes, and/or treatment technigues. Thus, in addition to considering the best in-plant and end-of-process control technology identified in best available technology economically achievable, new source technology is to be based on analysis of how the level of effluent may be reduced by changing the production process itself. Alternative processes, operating methods or other alternatives must be considered. However, the end result of the analysis will be to identify effluent standards which reflect levels of control achievable through the use of improved production processes (as well as control technology) , rather than prescribing a particular type of process or technology which must be employed. A further determination which must be made for new source technology is whether a standard permitting no discharge of pollutants is practicable. At least the following factors should be considered with respect to production processes which are to be analyzed in assessing new source technology: a. The type of process employed and process changes; b. Operating methods; c. Batch as opposed to continuous operations; d. Use of alternative raw materials and mixes of raw materials; e. Use of dry rather than wet processes {including sub- stitution of recoverable solvents for water); and f. Recovery of pollutants as by-products. ------- NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR THE WOOD FURNITURE AND MANUFACTURING SEGMENT The recommended effluent limitations for new sources is no discharge of process waste water pollutants to navigable waters, as developed in Section IX. ------- SECTION XII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document is based on a study by Environmental Science and Engineering, Inc., Gainesville, Florida, under the direction of Dr. Richard H. Jones, project manager and assistant project manager were John D. Crane and Beverly Young, respectively. The staff members were Pussell Roberts, John T. white, Monte H. Swann, and Leonard P. Levine. Technical assistance and consultation was provided by Dr. Warren S. Thompson, Mississippi State University. Appreciation is extended to Mr. Douglas Kerr and Mr. Doualas Brackett of the Southern Furniture Manufacturers Association, Mr. Charles Solon of the Furniture Manufacturers Association of Grand Rapids, Mr. Lee Hahn and Mr. Eddy Feldman of the Furniture Manufacturers Association of California, Ms. Joy Henninger of the Southwest Furniture Manufacturers Association, and Mr. John Snow of the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers. Appreciation is also expressed to numerous individuals within the industry who provided information and arranged on-site visits. Special recognition is due Mr. Colon Prestwood of Bernhardt Industries for assistance in waste water sampling. Intra-agency review, analysis, and assistance was provided by the Timber Products Processing Working Group/Steering Committee comprised of the following EPA personnel: Harold Coughlin, Office of water Planning and Standards Chairman; Richard Williams, Office of Water Planning and Standards; Al Ewing, National Environmental Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon; Arthur Mallon, Office of Research and Development; Irving Susel, Office of Planning and Evaluation; Peter Smith, Office of Federal Activities; George Marienthal, Office of Regional Liason; Ed Bogdan, Region IX; Dan Bodien, Region X; Jim Stiebing, Region VI; William Frick, Office of Enforcement and General Counsel; Reinhold Thieme, Office of Enforcement and General Counsel; Charles Sutfin, Office of Water Program Operations; and Dennis Tirpak, Office of Research and Development. Special appreciation and acknowledgement is given to the secretarial staffs of Environmental Science and Engineering, Inc. and the Effluent Guidelines Division. , J ------- SECTION XIII BIBLIOGRAPHY "Airless Spraying Provides Many Benefits in Furniture Finishing, "Wood and Wood Products, 78 (1) (1973). Allen, R. A., "Epoxy Resins in Coatings," Federation Series 2Q Coatings Technology^ Unit 20, Federation of Societies for Paint Technology7~Philadelphia, Pa. (1972). Allyn, G., "Acrylic Resins," Federation Series on Coatings Technology^ 2Sl£ 12• Federation of Societies for Paint Technology, Philadelphia, Pa. (1971). Anonymous, "Wood Finishing Systems," In Design and Control 2f Wood Processes, Bethel, J. (Ed.), North Carolina State University, School of Forest Resources (1963). "Automated Line Finishes 80,000 Legs Per Shift," Wood and Wood Products, 74 (5) (1969) . Barret, W. J., Morneau, G. A., Roden, J. 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Plywood and Other wood Based Panels, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome (1966) . Powell, G. M. , "Vinyl Resins," Federation Series on Coatings Technology^ Unit .19, Federation of Societies for Paint Technology, Philadelphia, Pa. (1972) . Service Drinking Water Standards^ Revised 1262, U.S. Department of Health, Education," and" Welfare, U.S. Public Health Service Publication 956, Washington, D.C., (1961). Rheineck, A. E., "Modern Varnish Technology," Federation Series on Coatings Technology^ Unit 4, Federation of Societies for Paint TechnoIogyT Philadelphia, Pa. (1966). ------- Rhine, G. W. , "The Hot Spray Process," Forest Products r 3(2) (1953). Ridell, A. W. , "New Concepts in Wood Finishing," Forest 1.8 (7) (1968) . Ridell, A. W. , "Factors in Converting to "Super" Finishes," Products Journal, 2_1 (5) (1971) . Robinson, U. L. , "Changing Hardwood Market: The Furniture Industry," Forest Products Journal 1.5(7) (1965). Sac, N. I., Dangerous Prop_erties of Industrial Materials, Reinhold Publishing Corp.,~New York, N.Y7~7l963f. Stewart, W. J. , "Paint Driers and Additives," Federation §§•£!£§ 2Q Coatings Technology^ Unit V[, Federation of Societies for Paint Technology, Philadelphia, Pa. (1969). Stoy, W. , Usowski, E. T. , Larson, L. P., et al, "Black and Metallic Pigments" Federation Series on Coatings Technology^ SD.it 1£, Federation of Societies for Paint Technology, Philadelphia, Pa. (1969). Suchland, 0. , "Linear Expansion of Veneered Furniture Panels," Forest Products J2U£nal, 2.1(9) (September 1971). Facts §nd Figures, Reliance Universal, Inc. , 2nd Edition (November 1965). Whaley, J. H. , Jr., and Carrier, R. E., Furniture F Textbook, Production Publishing Company ("1972) . Yale, R. H. , "Composition Board Has Found Its Place in Furniture Industry," Forest Products Journal (October 1966) . Yelverton, T. K. , "Electrostatic Process Used to Finish 7000 Legs/Day," Wood and Wood Products, 73, (6) (June 1968). DIRECTORIES Industrial Classification Manual, United States Government Printing Of fice~(Stock~No. «?01-0066) (1972). Census of Manufactures, Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce (July 1967). Wood-Using Industries in Florida.: A Directory, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services "(197T) . ------- 1223 Directory of the Forest Products Industry, 5Uth Edition. Membership Directory: Furniture Manufacturers Association of California (July 1973) . 1974 Membershig Director, Southwestern Furniture Suppliers Association ^December 1973) . Furniture Manufacturers Association of Grand Ragidsj. B.2§£er 2f Member-Directors. 1973 Who^s Who In the Southern Furniture Industry, Southern Furniture Manufacturers Association. ------- SECTION XIV GLOSSARY Abrasive - A substance used for wearing away a surface by friction. Powdered pumice, rottenstone, sand paper, steel wool, and rubbing compound are some of the abrasives used for rubbing enamel, varnish and lacquer surfaces. Absorjgtiori - The penetration of one substance into the inner structure of another. Acetates_ - A group of organic solvents used in making lacquers derived from the reaction of various alcohols with acetic acid. The acetate usually takes its name from the alcohol, such as ethyl acetate from ethyl alcohol. Acry.lic_Resin - A synthetic, thermoplastic resin formed by polymerizing esters of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid. "Act" - The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of™972. ~ A natural or man-made waste water treatment pond in which mechanical or diffused-air aeration is used to supplement the oxygen supply. Aerobic - A condition in which free, elemental oxygen is present. Air __ BEYiQ3_ *" A finishing material is said to be air drying when it is capable of hardening or curing at ordinary room temperature, i.e., 15° to 27°C. Alky.1 __ Resin - A synthetic, thermoplastic resin used in paints, varnishes and lacquers produced by the reaction of a polybasic acid, such as phthalic, maleic or succinic acid, with a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerine. Anaerobic - A condition in which free elemental oxygen is absent. Antigue_Finish - A finish that is designed to give the appearance of age to the article being finished, usually achieved by highlighting the parts that would normally receive the greatest wear or by darkening the unworn portion. ------- Aromatic __ Compound - An unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbon containing one or more rings, highly reactive and chemically versatile. ~ See Ground Coating. Binder - The non-volatile, film-forming solid portion of the vehicle in a coating which binds the pigment particles together after the film is dry. BleachjLng_Agent - A material which, when properly used, permanently lightens the color of the object on which it is used. !li£!lili2_lQ ~ T^e process of repairing scratches and damaged spots in a finish by melting stick shellac or similar compounds into the defect by means of a heated knife. luty.l_Acetate ~ A widely used lacquer solvent. Specific gravity C.872. Flash point about 38°C. (open cup method). Boiling point about 126°C. --. ~ A nonflammable liquid that has good solvent jproperties for many resins, oils, and waxes. Used to some extent in the varnish and lacquer industry, also as a fire extinguisher. Casein ___ B§§iS ___ 2i!i§ ~ A glue commonly used in wood fabricating, made from a derivative of skimmed milk. Catalyst - An acid or acid salt used to promote quick curing of" resins. Common catalysts are ammonium hydroxide, ammonium chloride, and ammonium sulfate. Cellulose - A complex polymeric carbohydrate, C6H1.005, yielding only glucose on complete hydrolysis, which constitutes the chief part of the cell walls of plants. Chlorinated __ Rubber - A synthetic resin made by chlorinating rubber under specified conditions. Coal_Tar - A black liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, obtained from coal during its conversion to coke. Coal tar is the basic raw material for many of the solvents, dyes, chemicals, and resins used in the coating industry. Cold __ Setting - In resin curing, the setting of resins which requires no heat as compared to heat curing. ------- £olpr_Coats - Those coats of finishing material which give color to the finish. Core - The central piece of wood used in the construction of plywood. Its grain is usually at right angles to the grain of the adjacent plies. Qy-CiiC-Qomgound ~ A*1 organic compound whose structure is characterized by a closed ring. Dimension_Lumber - Lumber sawn to specified dimensions. Direct Roll Coating - A method used in applying liquid finishingmaterials to flat substrate surfaces. The equipment consists of an applicator roll which applies the liquid material to the substrate surface, a metering roll which controls the thickness of the liquid material on the applicator roll, and feed and support rolls which feed the panel substrate through the coating device and provide support for the panel against the applicator roll. DrYing_Time - The time required for an applied film of a coatingmaterial to reach the desired stage of hardness or non-stickiness. The various stages of drying are: "dust free, to touch, tack free, to handle, hard, to sand, to rub, and to pack." Embossing - The raising in relief of a surface to produce a design. Enamel - A. broad classification of free-flowing pigmented finishing materials which dry to a smooth, hard, glossy, or semi-gloss finish. Generally the liquid portion consists of varnish or lacquer and the pigment portion is ground to a very small particle size. EJDOXV. Resin - A thermosetting resin, commercially produced by a reaction between Bisphenol A, made from phenol and acetone, and EpicMorohydrin, a by-product in the manufacture of synthetic glycerine. Ester - A compound that is formed when the hydrogen ion of anacid is replaced by a hydrocarbon radical. Some of the more familiar esters used as solvents in the industry are ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and amyl acetate. Ethy.1 Alcohol - A colorless and inflammable liquid derived by~the~distillation of fermented liquors. Second only to water in being the oldest and most widely used solvent. ------- Fabricating ~ Tne joining of pieces of wood by mechanical means or adhesives. Fac§_Veneer ~ Tne outside piece of wood used in the construction of plywood. Its grain is usually at right angles to the grain of adjacent plies. ~ Tne loss of color resulting from exposure to light, heat or other destructive agents. Filler - A liquid finishing material, usually containing considerable quantities of pigment, used to build up or fill depressions and imperfections in the surface of the wood substrate. Finishing - Consists of surface smoothing such as sanding or planing, covering with liquid coatings or covering with various sheet materials or combinations of these operations. Flow __ Coat - A coat of finishing material applied to a vertical surface in an excessive amount, the surplus being allowed to flow down over the surface and drip off the bottom edge. Formaldehyde - A colorless gas with a sharp odor formed by the partial combustion of methanol. Used in the industry in a 37 percent solution in water. A preservative and disinfectant and ingredient used in phenolic and urea resins. Fossil __ Resins - Those natural resins which derive their hardness and desirable characteristics from aging in the ground . ~ A term used to describe different types of finishincr materials. (1) A glazing putty is a creamy consistency surfacing material, usually applied with a knife to fill imperfections in the surface. (2) A glazing stain is a pigmented stain applied over a stained, filled or painted surface to soften or blend the original color without obscuring it. §E§.in_Printing - The process of printing a natural wood grain pattern onto the surface of a wood-based product by roll or flat-plate printing using a colored ink or paint to produce an imitation wood grain effect on the surface of the prefinished product. Ground __ Coating - The coat of colored material, usually opaque, applied before the grain printing ink, in producing ------- imitation wood grain effects for various prefinished wood- based products. Often referred to as Base Coating. - A compressed fiberboard of 0.50 g/cu cm (31 b/cu ft or greater) density. Alternative term: fibrous- felted hardboard. Hardwood - Wood from deciduous or broad leaf trees. Hardwoods include oak, walnut, lavan, elm, cherry, hickory, pecan, maple, birch, gum, cativo. teak, rosewood, and mahogany. Hog_Fuel - Fractionalized wood used to fire a boiler. ~ An organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occuring in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens. J2iDiiS2 ~ ^n operation employed to join two or more pieces of wood in fabricated wood products. Depending on product requirements, joints are of three basic types: edge jointing or side-to-side-grain joints, end to-side-grain joints, and end jointing or end-to-end-grain joints. In all joints the application of adhesives and the subsequent curing process are performed. Ketone - An organic compound that contains the bivalent ketone groups. Usually a colorless volatile liquid, such as acetone or dimethyl ketone, but may also be a crystalline solid, such as camphor. Kiln - A room or separate compartment with regulated heat and circulation of fresh air. The relative humidity may also be controlled. Lacguer - A thin-bodied, quick-drying coating material that forms a hard film. Originally it referred to solutions of shellac and other resins that dried by evaporation alone. More recently the term applies to mixtures of solutions of nitro-cellulose, ethyl-cellulose, natural and synthetic resins which dry by evaporation alone. LiD§eed_Oil - A yellowish oil obtained by crushing the seeds of flax. Contains a mixture of glycerides of several fatty acids. Has the ability to absorb oxygen from the air and gradually form a tough hardened coating when exposed in a thin film. Used as a vehicle in paints and as the softening agent for resins in the manufacture of varnishes. ------- Lumber_DrYing - The process in which lumber is dried by one of two methods: 1) Air seasoning - boards are segregated according to board weight, coated with chemical preservatives and stacked in a manner that will provide sufficient air circulation. 2) Kiln drying - a process whereby green or pre-air seasoned boards are dried in a kiln which is a humidity and temper ature controlled building. BS§ins - Synthetic resins made from melamine and formaldehyde. They cure quickly at relatively low temperatures and are quite stable in color, even when exposed to high temperatures . Mineral_S]3irits - A medium boiling fraction of petroleum naphtha having a boiling range between 66°C. and 95°C. The flash point is usually slightly above 38°C. and weight is about 6 pounds per gallon. Nitro-Cellulose - The product obtained by nitrating cellulose, in the form of linters, cotton waste, wood pulp, etc. , by treatment with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid. For different purposes the cellulose is nitrated to various degrees. That used for manufacturing lacquers contains about 12% nitrogen. Non-Contact Waste Water- Waste water such as spent cooling water which is independent of the manufacturing process and contain no pollutants attributable to the process. Non-Volatile - 1) That portion of a material which does not evaporate at ordinary temperatures; 2) the solid substances left behind after heating a dried waste water sample at 550°C for 60 minutes. Oil __ Polish - A polishing material containing oil as one of the ingredients. Also the finish obtained by rubbing successive thin coats of linseed oil on wood. Oil __ Rubbing - The process of dulling the luster and smoothing the surface of a dried film of finishing material by rubbing it with pumice stone or other abrasive materials while lubricating the surface with oil. Pt - Total phosphorus as P. ------- B§£ticleboard ~ A sheet material manufactured from lignocellulosic pieces or particles, as distinguished from fibers, combined with a synthetic resin or other suitable binder and bonded together under heat and pressure in a hot- press by a process in which the entire inter-particle bond is created by the added binder. P.H - A measure of the hydrogen ion activity of a water sample. It is expressed as the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration. (C6H50H) - A simple aromatic compound. Phenol-formaldehYde __ Resin - A synthetic, oil soluble resin produced as a condensation product of phenol and formaldehyde . Phenolic __ Resins - Synthetic, thermosetting resins, usually made by the reaction of phenol with an aldehyde. Pigment - The fine, solid particles used for color or opacity properties in the manufacture of paint and other coatings. Pigment __ Stains - Those stains which get their color primarily from pigments mixed with binder and volatile thinner s. Planing - A finishing process which is carried out by means of surfacing tools, i.e., planer knives that are attached to a rotating cutterhead. - A softening material added to lacquers or other compounds to impart elongation, elasticity, and flexibility. Plywood - Wood which is built up by gluing thin pieces of wood together in three or more laminations. The grain of adjacent plies usually are at right angles to each other. E2lislJ ~ Tne act of increasing the luster of the dried film of a finishing material by friction. The material used for producing the high luster, the result and, brilliantly glossy finish produced by polishing. Poly.ester_Resin - A synthetic, thermosetting resin formed by a chain of molecules, composed alternately of molecules of acid and alcohol. The chain formation linking the molecules together is polymerization. -i. - J ------- - A chemical reaction involving a successive linkage of a large number of molecules. B§§iD§ ~ Synthetic resins formed by the polymerization of styrene. P2lyviny.l Acetate Resins - Synthetic, thermoplastic resins, commonly used in the manufacture of emulsion coatings. ~ A settling tank through which waste water is passed in a treatment system. B§§iB ~ A semi-solid or solid mixture of organic or carbon- based compounds which may be drawn from animal, vegetable or synthetic sources and may be thermosetting or thermoplastic. ~ A method of applying finishing materials to flat surfaces by passing the surface between rollers, one or both of which are coated with the material. E^febina - The act of applying mechanical friction, usually in conjunction with an abrasive and a lubricant, to a film of finishing material to bring it to a level, smooth surface, to deaden the luster, to remove specks of dirt or for similar purposes. ~ Selective staining of lighter areas of wood to minimize or cover their contrast, usually done before other staining. Sealer - A liguid finishing material which is applied with the primary purpose of stopping the absorption of succeeding coats. Sedimentation - The gravity separation of suspended solids. ~ A single-story settling tank in which the settled sludge is in immediate contact with the waste water flowing through the tank, while the organic solids are decomposed by anaerobic bacterial action. §ettling_Ponds ~ An impoundment for the settling out of settleable solids. T§DlS ~ A tank or basin, in which water, sewage, or other liquid containing, settleable solids, is retained for a sufficient time, and in which the velocity of flow is sufficiently low to remove by gravity a part of the suspended matter. Usually, in sewage treatment, the ------- detention period is short enough to avoid anaerobic decomposition. Shellac - The resinous material secreted by an insect which feeds~upon the twigs of certain trees in India. It is soluble in alcohol to form liquid shellac which is used as a sealer and finishing material for wood. Size - An additive which increases water resistance. Solids - Various types of solids are commonly determined on water samples. These types of solids are: Total Solids ITS)_ - The material left after evaporation and drying a sample'at 103-105°C. T2tal Suspended Solids iS§i_ - The material removed from a sample filtered~through a standard glass fiber filter. Then it is dried at 103-105°C. Dissolved_Solids (DS) - The difference between the total and suspended solids. Volatile Solids (VS) - The material which is lost when the sample is heated at 550°C. y.2l§tile_Susgended_Solids (VSS) - The material lost when the suspended solids sample is heated at 550°C. Volatile Dissolved Solids (VDS) - The difference between volatile~solids~~and volatile suspended solids. S.Br§Y._l22th - An enclosure, used in conjunction with spray coatingequipment, designed to provide fire and air pollution protection by removal of both the solvent fumes and the spray mist associated with spray coating operations. Spray booths are of two types: 1) A water-wash type which uses water as the filtering media and 2) a dry-type which uses dry filter elements. Sgra^ Coating - A method used in applying liquid finishing materials~to~~almost all types of wood-based substrates, accomplished by various types of spray equipment including fixed gun, reciprocating arm and rotary arm spray equipment. Spray_Evagoration - A method of waste water disposal in which thewater in a holding lagoon equipped with spray nozzles is sprayed into the air to expedite evaporation. ------- Staining ~ Tne act °f changing the color of wood without disturbing the texture or markings, through the application of transparent or semi-transparent liquids made from dyes, finely divided pigments or chemicals. Steaming - Treating wood material with steam to soften it. sY.2£hetic Resins - Complex, organic semi-solid or solid materials built up by chemical reaction of comparatively simple compounds . Synthetic resins often approximate the natural resins in various physical properties; namely, luster, fracture, comparative brittleness, insolubility in water, fusibility, or plasticity when exposed to heat and pressure and, at a narrow temperature range before fusion, a degree of rubber like extensibility. They commonly differ widely from natural resins in chemical constitution and behavior with reagents. B£§iQ§ ~ Resins which soften and may be reformed under heat and pressure. Thermosetting Resins - Resins which undergo permanent physical and chemical change through the application of heat and pressure. TOC - Total organic carbon as C. Top. __ Coat - A liquid finishing material, usually applied as the final finish coating for any prefinished wood product. Totai Tr§e Harvesting - The on site chipping and subsequent utilization of a whole tree. Undercoats - Those coats which are applied prior to the finishing or final coats. Resin - A synthetic resin produced by condensing urea with formaldehyde. Urea^resin_Glue - A synthetic-resin adhesive system based on the thermosetting, urea-formaldehyde resin, used in overlaying veneers and hardboard onto particleboard substrates as well as in many other wood gluing operations. Varnish - A homogeneous transparent or translucent liquid material which, when applied as a thin film, hardens on exposure to air or heat, by evaporation, oxidation, ------- polymerization or a combination of these to form a continuous film that imparts protective or decorative properties to wood finishes. " There are four basic methods: 1. Rotary lathing - cutting continuous strips by the use of a stationary knife and a lathe. 2. Slicing - consists of a stationary knife and an upward and downward moving log bed. On each down stroke a slice of veneer is cut. 3. Stay log - A flitch is attached to a "stay log," or a long flanged, steel casting mounted in eccentric chucks on a conventional lathe. U. Sawn veneer - veneer cut by a circular type saw called a segment saw. Veneer __ Drying - Freshly cut veneers are ordinarily unsuited for gluing because of their wetness and are also susceptible to molds, fungi, and blue stain. Veneer is usually dried, therefore, as soon as possible, to a moisture content of about 10 percent. Acetate - A colorless liquid with the formula CH3COOCH:CH2 used in the manufacture of synthetic vinyl resins. YiQZi_B§§iQ§ ~ Synthetic, thermoplastic resins formed by the polymerization of a vinyl compound, with or without some other substance. Water Base_or_Water_Reducible_Coatings - Emulsions (of high molecular weight), dispersions (of fine particle size) and other water soluble coating systems which, at application of solids, comprise a minimum of 80 percent of their volatile material as water, with the balance as exempt solvent. Waste Water - The broad term referring to water that is not needed or that has been used and is permitted to escape. Wet Scrubbers - An air pollution control device which involves the wetting of particles in an air stream and the impingement of wet or dry particles on collecting surfaces followed by flushing. ------- APPENDIX A FURNITURE FINISHING MATERIALS AND METHODS Finishing materials, despite the large number of types, may be grouped into two broad categories: non-film-forming materials and film-forming materials. The non-film-forming materials are composed of a vehicle, which is normally an organic solvent, plus a coloring material which is usually dye and/or pigments. Film-forming materials include varnishes, shellacs, lacquers, drying oils such as linseed oils and tung oil, and various synthetic resins such as epoxies, polyurethanes, phenolics, melamines, and urea formaldehyde. Finishing materials may be further divided into transparent finishes and opaque or pigmented finishes. Pigmented type of finishes are used primarily as undercoats for other types of finishes. In finishing furniture with transoarent finishes, the number of steps may vary from as few as ten for a relatively inexpensive type of furniture to as many as thirty for an expensive line. The basic operations are: (1) bleaching, (2) staining, (3) filling, (4) sealing, (5) topcoating, and (6) rubbing and polishing. Ii§§£hi22 ~ Bleaching consists of removing or subduing the natural wood coloring to produce a light undertone or background color. The public demand for light colored wood, and the resulting amount of bleaching is cyclic in nature. The last period of high popularity occurred in the late nineteen sixties and presently bleaching is not extensively practiced. The plants that do practice bleaching are generally those that produce relatively high grade furniture and find it easier to provide uniformity in matching furniture by bleaching the wood and then adding color. A typical bleaching operation is shown in Figure A. While a variety of chemicals may be used for bleaching, nearly all bleaching is done with a 35 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide. This strong oxidizing agent, when combined with an activator such as sodium hydroxide, removes the natural wood colorants by oxidizing them. When mixed, the hydrogen peroxide and activator form an unstable solution that must be used within a few hours. It is applied, particularly in volume production, either simultaneously by a double headed spray gun or sequentially with hydrogen peroxide followed by the activator. ------- BLEACH APPLICATION WEAK BLEACH HEATING STRONG BLEACH I SECOND BLEACH APPLICATION t HEATING M ^ HI SI 1 f VTER SPRAY TO JN OFF AND 3ONGE WIPE 1 OVEN DRYING SAN DING a BLOW OFF I FINISHING OPERATIONS FIGURE A TYPICAL BLEACHING OPERATION ------- In general, it is desirable to use the least amount of bleach to produce the desired color since excessive bleaching destroys wood value and creates subsequent working, drying, and finishing problems. Therefore, the trend in production bleaching is not to use full strength materials, but to dilute with water or alcohol. A typical diluted mixture would contain one part activator, two parts peroxide, and two to four parts reducer. For mixing gun application the components are supplied proportionally and can be further varied by pressure and spray nozzle adjustments. If a reducer is to be used, alcohol is preferred over water. Commercial methanol, isopropanol, or denatured alcohol may be used. Since many bleaching materials are in water solution initially, it is not desirable to add more water as this causes slow drying and swelling of wood fibers, and thus results in additional sanding operations. When strong mixtures are used, or when more than one bleaching solution utilizing a caustic soda activator is applied, removal of the alkali is essential. The removal is normally accomplished by either a water spray rinse or by application of acetic acid or vinegar. When the acetic acid neutralizer is used, washing is still required to remove the sodium acetate formed by reaction of sodium hydroxide and acetic acid. Another alternative is the use of commercially available activators which volatilize during drying, leave no residue, and require no water washing of the wood. The bleaches in this group are based on ammonia or ammonia compounds, or on organic amines. The problems associated with ammonia compounds are a residual yellow color, a fire risk, and a thorough drying to avoid blistering in the subsequent finishing operations. The organic amine compounds are not equal to the best caustic soda activators and must be thoroughly force dried to avoid residual odor. If a strong bleach is used, the furniture may be (1) water sprayed to run off and sponged down, then dried, or, (2) heated for ten minutes at 50°C to 55°C (120° to 130°F) and bleached a second time to be followed by a water wash and oven drying. When non-residue bleaches are used, the furniture can pass to an oven directly after bleaching. If more than one bleaching operation is conducted, a washdown is preferred before the second bleaching and drying. ~ In most finishing operations the first primary unit operation is staining. Staining is done after ------- bleaching, if bleaching is required or after equalization of color variations by sap staining if that is necessary. The purpose of staining is to adjust the wood to the desired undertone color without disturbing its texture or markings. It is accomplished by the application of transparent or semitransparent liquids made from dyes, finely divided pigments, or chemicals. The four general types of stains are water stains, spirit stains, non-grain raising stains, and oil stains. Water stains are solutions of dyes which have been dissolved in water, Methanol is sometimes substituted for a portion of the water to decrease surface tension and lessen fiber swelling. Water stains are usually made with acid dyes, but may be of the acid-mordant or basic types. In addition to dyes, water stains include wetting agents and a rosin size. In the past, stains of this type were used extensively in furniture finishing, but be cause they wet the wood surface thus necessitating drying after application, and, in some instances, have an undesirable effect on subsequent finishing operations, they have been largely replaced by other types of stains. Currently, however, there is a trend within the industry to return to water based materials. This primarily results from the energy shortage and the inability of the industry to obtain the quantities of organic solvents required for use with other type of stains. Spirit stains are generally 0.5 percent to 12 percent solutions of alcohol soluble dyes, with or without binders. The binders, when used, are usually shellac or resins. These stains receive very limited use in industrial furniture finishing. Oil stains are of two types: penetrating stains and pigmented wiping stains. The former, like water stains, finds limited use in present day furniture finishing. However, the wiping stains are second in importance in the furniture industry only to the non-grain-raising stains. The coloring material used is finely ground pigment instead of a soluble dye. The pigments are ground in a vehicle containing a drying oil, varnish, or synthetic resin. Hydrocarbon solvents such as naphtha, mineral spirits, etc., are used to thin the stains and control the drying. Pigmented wiping stains are widely used because they are inexpensive and flexible in application. They may be sprayed, brushed, or dipped, but in all cases the wood must be wiped to remove the excess stain. Non-grain-raising stains do not have the disadvantages presented by the water, spirit, and oil stains and ------- consequently are used more on high quality furniture than any other type stain. They are fast drying and, as the name implies, have less effect on the grain of the wood than do the water stains. Because they are fast drying, these stains normally cannot be brushed and are therefore usually applied by spraying. Non-grain-raising stains are made by dissolving the same type acid dyes as used in water stains in a combination of solvents. Glycol-ethers, particularly the monoethyl ether of ethylene glycol and the diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, are the most important solvents for non-grain-raising stains. Sometimes a binder such as nitrocellulose or low- solids-content lacquer is added to non-grain-raising stains to control the penetration of stain into the wood. This combination of stain and binder is sometimes called a non- grain-raising toner. It also performs the function of both a stain and a washcoat in situations where a separate washcoat cannot be used because of the finishing schedule or limitations of plant facilities. Special type stains used in the furniture industry include shading stains or shading lacquers. These are usually sprayed over the filler or lacquer sealer to create a uniform finish. Basically they consist of a low-solids lacquer containing non-grain-raising dyes or pigments as a colorant. Sometimes a shading stain is sprayed along the grain of the wood in a light, thin line in order to accent the grain. Another type of stain is the padding or accent stain. This stain is also made with non-grain-raising dyes dissolved in a special solvent and with a small amount of binder such as shellac. The use of pigmented toners has increased rapidly in recent years and today more furniture is being finished with some type of pigmented toner than with any other method. The purpose of the pigmented toners is to obscure either totally or partially the natural color of the wood. They consist of finely ground pigments dispersed in a binder such as a vinyl compound or nitrocellulose and with some type of solvent added to control the speed of drying. Pigmented toners designed only to partially obscure the natural color of the wood contain less pigment and more binder and a slower evaporating solvent. This enables the toner to penetrate and only partially obscure the wood, thereby giving it a more natural look. Regular finishing materials such as wiping stains, sealers, etc. are used over this type of toner to produce a light colored finish which simulates the bleached finishes. Because of the problems associated with bleaching, many manufacturers have turned to pigmented ------- toners to obtain somewhat the same effect provided by bleaching. Undercoats are used on wood for two purposes: (1) to hide the color of the wood with the proper color, and (2) to help fill the voids in the wood in order to produce a level, smooth surface when sanded. Most undercoats used on furniture contain a combination of pigments which have a high hiding power, such as titanium dioxide, color pigments, and inert pigments, which are used to fill the wood and provide good sanding. These pigments are usually ground in a lacquer or synthetic resin base and dispersed in fast evaporating solvents. Enamels used in the furniture industry are primarily lacquer enamels. They are prepared with just enough pigment to provide hiding power and obscure the wood. The trend is toward the use of darker enamels such as red, green, and blue. These colors are normally used on furniture that is to receive a distressed treatment. The majority of enamel finishes, however, are of white and off-white colors. Emulsion paints are also receiving increased use. A.n emulsion paint consists of pigments and extender pigments dispersed in a latex emulsion resin such as polyvinyl acetate or acrylic. These emulsion resins contain water, but are formulated to dry quickly. They are usually applied over a lacquer-type undercoat. After application, the furniture is usually glazed and brush blended to antique the wood and leave glaze in the brush marks. Filling - Fillers consist of translucent, inert pigments, a vehicle binder, and thinners. They are normally composed of 75 percent pigment and 25 percent vehicle. Their purpose in wood finishing is to produce a smooth wood surface by filling the pores and enhance the beauty of wood by making the pattern or figure stand out more clearly. They are applied primarily in finishing woods with large open pores such as in mahogany, oak, pecan, and walnut. Wood with relatively small pores, such as beech, birch, maple, etc., need not be filled prior to the application of other finishing materials, although a liquid filler such as shellac is often used. The pigments used in fillers are silica, gypsum, and talc, which impart filling qualities, and materials such as umbers, red oxide, and carbon black which contribute coloring qualities. The binders may be natural or chemically treated linseed oil, soybean oil, tuner oil, and other oils and resins, or blends of these materials. The thinners that are used with fillers consist mostly of naphthas and slow-drying mineral spirits. ^ . z ------- Fillers are made in paste consistency to avoid settling and caking prior to use and may be applied to wood by brushing, spraying, roller-coating, dipping, or flow-coating, after the heavy paste has been thinned to a soupy consistency. For spray application fillers are mixed on the order of three to five kilograms (eight to ten pounds) of filler to four liters (one gallon) of thinner. For brush application, the ratio may be five to six kilograms (10 to 12 pounds) to four liters (one gallon). The thinners most commonly used are naptha, which is fast evaporating, and mineral spirits, which are slow evaporating. Fillers are commonly brushed onto tops and fronts immediately after spraying, to promote penetration and wetting of the pores. When the filler has dried in part through the evaporation of some of the thinner, it is worked into the pores of the wood with motor-driven felt pads, or, at some plants, manually by rags moved in a circular motion. Excess filler is removed by wiping across the grain with a clean rag. Fillers usually require a minimum of 16 hours air drying time before recoating with lacquer sealer can be accomplished. Nearly all production plants now use drying ovens. Sealing - Sealers serve the primary purpose of preventing the transfer of materials from one coat to another. when used on bare wood, they are often called barrier coats or sizes, and when used between the stain and filler, a washcoat. Sealers used after the filling operation are called sealer or prime coats. Barrier coats are impenetrable films used on certain woods to prevent the natural stains or resins from penetrating and ruining the finish. Their use, therefore, depends on the particular species of wood being used. Washcoating has the primary purpose of preventing staining action by the filler while at the same time producing a uniformly harder surface so that colors, wiping stains, and glazes wipe easily and evenly. A washcoat sealer must form a very thin film; otherwise, it could bridge and seal large pores and prevent proper filling. The solids content of washcoat sealers may range from three to ten percent, depending on the overall wood porosity, but generally does not exceed five or six percent. Shellac and lacquer washcoats are used occasionally, but more often conversion type vinyl-amino sealers are employed. Washcoats are often ------- colored with stains or pigments to produce a combination stain and washcoat. When used in the place of toners, these washcoats serve to eliminate an operation in the finishing room. The main purpose of a prime coat sealer is to protect the wood from moisture and general usage. However, it also provides a smooth surface for the topcoat and seals in the previously applied stains, fillers, and colors. When a glaze is to be used, it is applied as a sealer. The purpose of a glaze is to provide "highlighting" on better grades of furniture. The furniture may be difficult to distinguish, but it provides richness and depth of color to the finish. A typical application sequence is the use of a glazing sealer followed by a glaze. Glazing sealers are normally produced at a solids content ranging from 6 to 15 percent, but it may be as high as 18 percent. As an alternative to glaze, sanding and building coats may be applied. Their purpose is to produce a smooth, level surface for the subsequent top coats. These coats, ranging from 18 to 21 percent solids or higher, do not provide a finish as resistant as the glaze sealer. - The application of topcoats is the most important step in the total finishing operation, and lacquers are the most important single topcoating materials used. Film formers in commerical use for lacquers are nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, certain vinyl copolymers, chlorinated rubber, and the thermoplastic acrylics. However, nitrocellulose is the film former most widely used. As a matter of fact, in the protective coatings trade, a lacquer is presumed to be based on nitrocellulose unless specifically stated otherwise. Nitrocellulose used in the finishing of furniture occurs in several different grades varying either in chemical composition or in viscosity. Three chemical types are available for lacquer use. These are designated RS, AS, and SS types. The RS type, which by far is the most commonly used in commercial lacquers, contains 12 percent nitrogen and is soluble in the so-called regular solvents, primarily esters and ketones. Because nitrocellulose films are by themselves too brittle for commercial use on furniture, various plasticizers are used to impart flexibility. Dibutyl phtalate, raw castor oil, and various polymerized oils with resins are often used as plasticizers in nitrocellulose formulations. ------- In addition to plasticizers, various resins are normally applied to lacquers composed of nitrocellulose. Frequently, the volume of resin used is as great as that of the nitrocellulose itself. The resins commonly used in nitrocellulose lacquers are usually of two general types: rosin esters and alkyds. The rosin maleates are extensively used in furniture lacquers, while alkyds are normally used for lacquers for other purposes, such as finishing automobiles. RS-type nitrocellulose is soluble in three main classes of solvents: 1) esters such as ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and ethyl lactate; 2) ketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and methyl isobutyl ketone; and 3) various glycol ethers. It is not soluble in alcohols other than methanol, nor is it soluble in hydrocarbons of the aliphatic or aromatic type. However, a solution of nitrocellulose in an active solvent such as one of the esters will tolerate almost unlimited dilution with alcohols without precipitation. Alcohols are, therefore, considered as cosolvents. As a general use, an ester-alcohol mixture gives lacquers of lower viscosity than does pure ester. An aromatic hydrocarbon such as toluene or xylene may be added to an ester solution of RS-type nitrocellulose without causina precipitation in concentrations up to about two parts hydrocarbon to one part ester. Since hydrocarbons are much cheaper than ketones, glycol ethers, and alcohols, they are used as dilutants as much as possible. The industry usually uses the least expensive mixture that gives satisfactory results. This generally means at least 50 percent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon, some ethanol or isopropanol, and only 20 to 30 percent ester or ketone. Some commonly used lacquer thinner components are listed in Table A-1. In addition to lacquers, various types of varnishes are also used as top coats in furniture finishing. Varnishes basically consist of a liquid vehicle, usually an organic solvent plus a resin which may either be of natural or synthetic origin. The film-former itself may be either thermoplastic or convertible. In the broadest sense, the word "varnish" is applied to any film former that is oleoresinous in nature. Resins used in varnishes include alkyds, epoxies, and oil-modified urethanes. There are two general types of varnishes: spirit varnishes and oleo resinous varnishes. The simplest varnishes, the spirit varnishes, are simple solutions of thermoplastic resins dispersed in mineral ------- TABLE A-l COMMONLY USED LACQUER THINNER COMPONENTS Solvents Dilution Ratio Toluene Naphtha Acetone Methyl ethyl ketone Ethyl acetate Isopropyl acetate Methyl isobutyl ketone Butyl acetate Amy! acetate Methyl amyl acetate Methyl amyl ketone Disobutyl ketone Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate Ethyl lactate Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether Latent Sol vents Ethyl alcohol (95%) Isopropyl alcohol Butyl alcohol Methyl isobutyl carbinol Aromatic Diluents Benzene Toluene Xylene Aromatic Naphthas Amsco A 19/27 Solvsol Socal 1 Hi-Flash Naphtha Aliphatic Naphthas Shell Benzo-Sol Shell "A" Lactol spirits Shell Tolu-Sol Apcothinner V.M. and P. naphtha Mineral spirits 4.4 4.3 3.3 3.0 3.6 2.6 2.1 1.7 3.9 1.5 4.9 2.5 5.0 3.3 0.8 0.9 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.5 1.2 1.0 1.2 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.7 1.8 ------- spirits or other aliphatic hydrocarbons. A few resins require an alcohol as a solvent. Spirit varnishes dry by evaporation of the solvent. Since the resin under goes no substantial change during drying, this coating is essentially non-convertible. Among the resins that are dissolved in aliphatic solvents to make spirit varnishes are limed rosin, rosin ester, maleic resin, and petroleum resin. The only noteworthy alcohol-soluble resins are shellac and manilla gum. Because oleoresinous varnishes in oil do not have a practicable drying rate, metallic dryers are included. These dryers are soluble compounds of lead, cobalt, manganese, calcium, and zirconium. The composition of some classical varnishes is shown in Table A-2. In addition to the varnishes and lacguers, various other types of "exotic coatings" are finding increasing usage in furniture finishing. These are primarily materials of the polyester, epoxy, and polyur ethane classes. The epoxy resins, while finding some use in wood furniture, are used primarily in metal coatings. Urethanes and polyesters, on the other hand, are experiencing increased usage in the wooden furniture and fixture industry. . - All paints, enamels, varnishes, stains, fillers, primers, inks, and similar products are built on a base product called a film former. In order to provide a consistency suitable for application, the film formers are dissolved by solvents. Both organic solvents and water are used for wood-finishing materials. However, organic solvents are by far the most commonly used and, barring a limit in the supply of organic solvents, it is probable that the organic solvents will continue to be the primary type used. Organic solvents for coating may be divided into the following general groups: 1. terpenes 2. hydrocarbons a. aliphatic b. napthanenic c. aromatic 3. oxygenated a. alcohols b. esters c. ketones ~4 . J ------- TABLE A-2 COMPOSITION OF CLASSICAL VARNISHES Component Type Oils Resins Solvents Driers Other Additives Hard Soft Chemically modified Natural Synthetic Metallic soaps Aliphatic Aromatic Terpenic Alcoholic Lead Mangenese Cobalt Calcium Zirconium Anti-skinning agent Ultra-violet absorber Flatting agent Reactive Non-reactive ------- d. ether-alcohols i*. furans 5. nitroparaffins 6. chlorinated solvents Solvents in the terpene group receive only limited use in the furniture industry and will not be discussed here. This is also true of the furans, nitro-paraffins and chlorinated materials. The principle hydrocarbon solvents used in the industry are mineral spirits, V.M. and P. naphtha, toluene, xylene, hi-flash solvent naphtha, and aromatic naphthas. Among the oxygenated solvents, within the alcohol group the most commonly used chemicals are ethyl alcohol, amyl alcohol, butyl alcohol and its isomers, and isopropyl alcohol. Methanol is seldom used as a solvent because it evaporates too rapidly and the vapors are toxic. The principal esters used as solvents are methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, normal propyl acetate, and the butyl acetates. Within the ketone group, the principal chemicals used are methyl ethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, methyl isoamyl ketone, and acetone. Acetone receives only limited use because of its very rapid evaporation rate. Within the ether-alcohol group, the monoethyl ether of ethylene glycol, better known as Cellosolve, is one of the most commonly used. Diethylene glycol monethyl ether is also used extensively and, as was pointed out previously, is the most widely used dye solvent for non-grain-raising stains. ., JL ------- TABLE 28 GO ro METRIC TABLE CONVERSION TABLE MULTIPLY (ENGLISH UNITS) ENGLISH UNIT ABBREVIATION acre ac acre - feet ac ft British Thermal Unit BTU British Thermal Unit/pound BTU/lb cubic feet/minute cfm cubic feet/second cfs cubic feet cu ft cubic feet cu ft cubic inches cu in deqree Fahrenheit °F feet ft gallon qal gallon/minute gom horsenower hp inches in inches of mercury in Hg pounds Ib million gallons/day mgd mi 1e mi pound/square inch (gauge) psia square feet sq ft square inches sq in ton (short) ton yard yd by TO OBTAIN (METRIC UNITS) CONVERSION ABBREVIATION METRIC UNIT 0.405 1233.5 0.252 ha cu m kq cal 0.555 0.028 1.7 0.028 28.32 16.39 0.555(°F-32)* 0.3048 3.785 0.0631 0.7457 2.54 0.03342 0.454 785 1.609 kq cal/kq cu m/min cu m/min cu m 1 cu cm °C m 1 I/sec kw cm atm kq cu m/day km (0.06805 osig +1)* atm 0.0929 6.452 0.907 0.9144 sq m sq cm kka m hectares cubic meters kilogram - calories kiloqram calories/kiloqram cubic meters/minute cubic meters/minute cubic meters liters cubic centimeters deqree Centigrade meters liters liters/second killowatts centimeters atmospheres kiloqrams cubic meters/day kilometer atmosnheres (absolute) souare meters square centimeters metric ton (1000 kilograms) meter Actual conversion, not a multinlier ------- ------- |