United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Risk Reduction
Engineering Laboratory
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-94/169 September 1994
^ EPA Project Summary
Innovative Clean Technologies
Case Studies, Second Year
Project Report
Angel Martin-Dias, Editor
The Innovative Clean Technologies
Case Studies contained herein are the
products of the "Pollution Prevention
by and for Small Business" Program
(P2SB). The P2SB was an outreach
program directed to small businesses
that had developed innovative concepts
for pollution prevention in their indus-
tries. The P2SB focused on high-risk
concepts without emphasis on media
or industry in order to provide an open
program where ground-breaking con-
cepts were given a fair opportunity.
The P2SB provided awards of up to
$25,000 to assist small businesses for
conducting their own demonstrations
of pollution prevention techniques and
technologies and for advancing their
products towards a practical stage.
In its second year, the P2SB funded
projects in a variety of industries across
the nation. This publication provides a
history of the P2SB and lists case his-
tories of the projects funded in the sec-
ond year. An earlier report entitled
"Innovative Clean Technologies Case
Studies" (EPA/600/R-93/175) covering
the first year of the program is already
available.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering
Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce
key findings of the research project
that is fully documented in a separate
report of the same title (see Project
Report ordering information on back).
Introduction
In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency established a 2% set-aside
program to fund pollution prevention ini-
tiatives from across the Agency. These
set-asides were instituted to encourage
the research, development and demon-
stration of pollution prevention concepts,
techniques, and technologies nationwide.
One such initiative, Pollution Prevention
by and for Small Business (P2SB), was
proposed by EPA's Office of Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization
(OSDBU) with the support of EPA's Office
of Research and Development (ORD).
This initiative was selected for funding un-
der the pollution prevention 2% set-aside,
with co-funding provided by ORD. The
P2SB was managed through a coopera-
tive agreement with the Center for Haz-
ardous Materials Research (CHMR), and
some of the P2SB small businesses re-
ceived additional support for the commer-
cialization of their technologies through
the National Environmental Technology
Applications Center (NETAC). Nineteen
trade associations supported the program
though promotion, advice, and informa-
tion transfer.
The P2SB provided awards of up to
$25,000 to assist small businesses for
conducting their own demonstrations of
pollution prevention techniques and tech-
nologies and for advancing their concepts
to a practical stage. The P2SB was a 3-
year program, ending September 1993,
with awards being made in the 1991 and
1992 fiscal years of the federal govern-
ment.
The recipients of the grants applied their
own knowledge and expertise in the field
to structure their projects and data collec-
tion activities in a manner they determined
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would provide the most effective means
of furthering the development of their con-
cepts. The reader should be aware that
the data provided in these summaries are
not the results of third party evaluations.
The in-house demonstrations were com-
pleted in 14 to 16 months, and reports
were filed with CHMR, which in turn de-
veloped research briefs for Agency re-
view. These research briefs have been
reorganized into the chapters of this publi-
cation. The technologies are considered
promising research and development con-
cepts, and while several have advanced
towards commercialization, others require
further investigation and testing. All are
presented to provide the reader the op-
portunity to contact the small business
demonstrator for potential uses.
The success of the P2SB program de-
pends on the involvement of the trade
associations who sponsor presentations
by the participating small businesses at
annual conferences and regional work-
shops. This initiative was developed to
support critical pollution prevention efforts
in a variety of facilities and industries that
might not otherwise have the chance or
the resources to reduce wastes or to test
and implement their innovative ideas. The
P2SB was an attempt to support prom-
ising ventures and encourage further de-
velopment. It also expanded EPA's
knowledge of pollution prevention needs
in different sectors, supporting govern-
ment, business, and public cooperation
in finding ways to prevent pollution.
The full report was submitted in fulfill-
ment of Cooperative Agreement # 817670
by Center for Hazardous Material Re-
search under the sponsorship of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Project Title
Phase II and III Vented Two
Stages Valves for Internal
Combustion Engines
Author(s)
Reggie D. Huff
Research Institution
Aero-Tech, Inc., Tigard,
OR 97223
Pollution Prevention Through
Use of a Formaldehyde-
Free Biological Preservative
Arthur Schwartz
& Barbara Schwartz
Earth Safe Industries,
Inc., Belle Mead, NJ 08502
Substitution of Biodegradable
Low Toxicity Natural Products
for the Killing of Fire Ants
Pollution Prevention in
Cadmium Plating
Joe S. Wilkins,
Jr. & Joe Wilkins, Sr.
Environmental Pesticide
Group, Pasadena, TX 77502
Mandar Sunthankar
lonEdge Corporation,
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Particulate and Hydrocarbon
Emissions Reduction during
Wood Veneer Drying Operations
Guy Lauziere
Jim Wilson
Production Machinery, Inc.,
Bend, OR 97709;
Oregon State University,
Forestry Products
Department, Corvallis, OR
Abstract
This project assessed a concept to improve the induction pro-
cess of the internal engine. The task of the induction cycle is
to move air and fuel molecules from an inlet Venturi so they
can be burned efficiently. This design facilitates a reduction in
mechanical stress and an increased efficiency in air flow
dynamics. The net results are expected to be improved
engine performance, decreased emissions, and enhanced
fuel efficiency.
Formaldehyde, a major component of most biological
preservatives, is a toxic air pollutant; 67 billion Ib of this
substance are produced in the United States annually. NoToX
is a nontoxic, biological preservative intended to replace
formaldehyde in a variety of applications. This project
demonstrated the effectiveness of NoToX in eliminating air
pollution and in acting as an effective, long-term preservative
and fixative.
Lowtoxicity, biodegradable, natural products (terpenes
isolated from citrus fruit peel) can be substituted for toxic
chemicals for the effective killing of fire ants in agricultural
settings or on residential lawns. This project showed that
citrus fruit terpene compounds are as effective as commonly
used insecticides, less expensive, and rapidly biodegradable
in the environment.
Cadmium is electroplated on many industrial components
because of its desirable lubricity and corrosion resistance.
However, the use of cyanide baths in electroplating and the
toxic waste disposal related to cadmium are of significant
environmental concern. In recent years, 50/50 zinc-cadmium
alloy coating has shown promise as an alternative to cad-
mium. A novel dry plating has been developed that eliminates
liquid chemicals and prevents solid waste generation by using
in situ reclamation. This project showed that the lubricity of
this alloy is competitive with that of cadmium and superior to
that of known values of zinc.
This project assessed whether particulate emissions are
reduced or eliminated when wood veneer is dried using Radio
Frequency (RF) energy as compared to conventional energy
sources. Current dryers use natural gas, wood waste, or
electric resistance heating of veneers. The premise is that RF
energy, attracted directly to the water in the wood, is able to
heat the water and drive it from the wood cells at lower
temperatures than are required by conventional dryers. Due
to the lower temperatures, there is little or no release of
hydrocarbons from the wood compared to emissions
generated from other types of dryers.
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Project Title
Author(s)
Research Institution
Abstract
Conductive Polymer Composites
to Replace Heavy Metals in
Coatings and Adhesives
Harry S. Katz
& Radha Agarwal
Utility Development
Corporation,
Livingston, NJ 07039
Compound Adiabatic Air Condi-
tioning for Transit Buses
Jamends F. Mattil
Climatran Corporation,
Englewood, CO 80155
Reducing Heavy Metal Content
in Offset Printing Inks
Roger Telschow
Ecoprint,
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Reusing Zinc Plating Chemicals Douglas Brothers
Global Plating, Inc.,
Fremont, CA 94538
In-Ground Plastic Container
Production System to Reduce
Nitrate and Phosphate Pollution
Carl E. Whitcomb
Lacebark, Inc.,
Stillwater, OK 74076
Reuse of Metal Fabrication
Wastewaters via a Novel
Ultrasonic Coalescence
Process
Scott R. Taylor
S.R. Taylor and Associates,
Bartlesville, OK 74003
Improved polymer matrix conductive coatings and adhesives
are needed to replace current products that use heavy
metals. This project presented a low-cost polymer adhesive
that has equivalent conductivity to those currently available
and assessed its physical and electrical properties. It
focused on the inclusion of short graphite fibers, carbon/
graphite microspheres, and conductive carbon powder fillers
and the conductive elements.
Adiabatic air conditioning (AAC) is a water-based cooling
process that requires minimal energy and uses no refriger-
ants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This project
assessed the performance of an AAC system installed on a
bus and operated under a variety of climate conditions
representative of summer design conditions in selected
metropolitan areas.
A commercial offset printing ink is created using pigments
with no heavy metals, thus preventing pollution in three key
areas: (1) the waste ink that must be handled as a hazard-
ous waste; (2) the printed materials that are landfilled or
incinerated; and (3) the sludge that is created during the de-
inking and repulping of waste paper fibers as they are made
into recycled paper. The result of the testing throughout the
project was the creation of a "palette" of colored inks with a
low heavy metal content.
The project proposed to recover zinc chloride and other
chemicals used in zinc plating through ultrafiltration and
reverse osmosis membranes in order to reduce the amount
of hazardous waste generated, remove chlorides from the
wastewater, and permit reuse of the reclaimed metals. It
assessed the effectiveness of the membranes, but technical
difficulties prohibited the actual recycling of zinc and plating
bath chemicals.
The use of a new in-ground, plastic container system was
investigated that reduced nitrate and phosphate pollution
from above-ground container nurseries. Above-ground
container nurseries may use in excess of 2,000 Ib of
nitrogen per acre per year; much of the fertilizer applied to
containers may be lost through leaching and spillage. The
project proposed the technique that could reduce fertilizer
application rate by 50% or more (compared with conven-
tional above-ground containers) when plants are grown in
plastic containers submerged in the earth. In addition,
irrigation water demand could be reduced.
Metal working and finishing operations generate wastewater
containing cutting and cooling fluids along with metal par-
ticles and oils. Currently, this entire volume of wastewater
must be disposed of as a hazardous waste. This project
studied the effectiveness of a novel ultrasonic technique that
separates the hazardous contaminants from the fluids so
that the bulk microemulsion phase can be reused. A
multistage, multifrequency operation was built to assess the
commercial potential of the recovered oil phase and the solid
sludges, and to evaluate the long-term stability and
usefulness of recycled fluids.
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Project Title
Author(s)
Research Institution
Abstract
Reduction or Elimination of
Cooling Tower Chemicals
Larry Stenger &
Thomas Dobbs
Water Equipment Technol-
ogies, West Palm Beach,
FL 33411
Pre-Charged Vacuum Liquid
Extractor/Containerization
Device
Lowell Goodman
Technical Support Services,
South Thomaston,
ME 04858
Environmentally Safe Fountain
Solutions for the Printing
Industries
David R. Johns
Summit Resource
Management, Inc.,
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Cooling towers used in air conditioning applications are a
familiar site near many buildings. Since cooling towers are
vast heat exchangers, the water in the tower becomes a
perfect incubator to grow bacteria, algae, and fungi. Cooling
towers are also plagued by corrosion, scale, and sediment
accumulation. This project utilized a zinc and copper alloy
placed in the cooling tower sump. The reaction of the
cooling tower water with the alloy raises the water's pH, thus
reducing corrosion, preventing algae formation, and
destroying bacteria. This reduces or eliminates the need for
chemical algaecides, fungicides, corrosion inhibitors, and
scale inhibitors currently used to maintain cooling towers.
An innovative device has been developed and tested that
provides simple, spill-free extraction of used oil from equip-
ment during routine maintenance activities such as engine
oil changes. The objective of this project is to design, test,
and evaluate this device for use in other applications.
Successful development of this device will provide a
mechanism to remove and contain material in otherwise
difficult extraction situations, thereby promoting recovery and
recycling of material that is frequently disposed.
An ecologically compatible fountain solution for the printing
industry was formulated. This new solution eliminated iso-
propyl alcohol and mineral acids. Ethylene glycol was also
reduced through the substitution of propylene-based glycol.
These reductions and substitutions decreased the levels of
harmful vapors in the air and reduced the amount of toxins
released into the printer's wastewater system.
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Angel Martin-Dias is with the Center for Hazardous Materials Research,
Pittsburgh, PA 15238.
Kenneth R. Stone is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Innovative Clean Technologies Case Studies,
Second Year Project Report," (Order No. PB95-100079; Cost: $36.50,
subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-94/169
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