United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/60Q/SR-95/OQ1
March 1995
EPA Project Summary
Assessment of Pollution
Prevention Opportunities for Five
Industries
Eddy W. Huang
This project, funded by the South
Coast Air Quality Management District
(SCAQMD) and U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (U.S. EPA), evaluated
pollution prevention options. SCAQMD
and U.S. EPA have determined that
there exist a number of consumer and
commercial operations that can be iden-
tified as volatile organic compound
(VOC) and/or organic air toxic emis-
sion sources. The purpose of this ef-
fort is to assess products and pro-
cesses involved in printing, coatings,
and adhesives that are significant con-
tributors of VOCs.
The primary objectives of this project
are to identify pollution prevention re-
search, development, and demonstra-
tion opportunities which will reduce
VOC and/or organic air toxic emissions
from stationary sources such as:
flexographic printing, rotogravure print-
ing, graphic arts activities, architectural
and industrial maintenance (AIM) coat-
ings, and consumer and industrial ad-
hesives.
The report summarizes the emissions
inventory, market survey, product cat-
egorization, product characteristics,
potential product reformulation, new
product research, and alternative ap-
plication methods for processes in-
volved in printing, graphic arts, AIM
coatings, and consumer/industrial ad-
hesives. It also assesses key areas that
might lead to reduced VOCs from five
categories.
This Project Summary VMS developed
by EFA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that Is fully
documented In a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
Information at back).
Introduction
The failure of nearly 100 metropolitan
areas in the U.S. to attain trie National
Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone is
one of the major environmental issues
currently faced by the U.S. EPA and local
regulatory agencies. The formation of
ground level ozone results from complex
atmospheric reactions between VOCs and
nitrogen oxides (NOJ in the presence of
sunlight. Thus, the control of VOC and
NO, emissions, which are precursors of
ozone, is essential in order to meet the
ozone standard. While most of the large
stationery sources of VOC and/or organic
air toxic emissions are covered by exist-
ing regulations, small dispersed sources
of these pollutants generally are not and
may contribute significantly to ozone non-
attainment. "The use of a wide range of
consumer/commercial products has been
identified as a substantial source of VOC
emissions that is predominantly uncon-
trolled and unregulated. Control of these
emissions can best be addressed by prod-
uct reformulation, improved application ef-
ficiency, or enhanced product efficiency.
A number of consumer and commer-
cial operations have been identified as
VOC and/or organic air toxic emission
sources. These include, but are not lim-
ited to, auto body refinishing, primary fur-
niture finishing, printing, graphic arts, AIM
coatings, and consumer and industrial ad-
hesives. This study assessed products and
processes involved in printing, graphic arts,
Printed on ffeeyefed Paper
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AIM coatings, and consumer/industrial ad-
hesives that are significant contributors of
VOC emissions.
Five tasks were completed during this
project.
1. Quantification of the emissions of
VOC and air toxics presently regu-
lated by the SCAQMD for the five
categories identified above.
2. Identification of commonly used
products that have significant use
for each category above.
3. Identification of existing and poten-
tial product reformulation opportu-
nities or substitute compounds
which could result in reduced VOC
emissions for each category.
4. Identification of emerging technolo-
gies for new or modified materials
and/or processes that are expected
to have reduced VOC emissions.
5. Identification of key areas that might
lead to reduced VOC emissions
from the five categories listed.
The report summarized the emissions
inventory, product categorization, poten-
tial product reformulation, new product re-
search, and alternative application meth-
ods for processes involved in printing,
graphic arts, AIM coatings, and adhesives.
Objectives
The primary objectives of this project
are to identify pollution prevention re-
search, development, and demonstration
opportunities which will reduce VOC and/
or organic air toxic emissions from the fol-
lowing small stationary area sources (here-
inafter referred to collectively as the five
specified product categories): flexographic
printing, rotogravure printing, graphic arts
activities, AIM coatings, and consumer and
industrial adhesives.
Technologies without sufficient research
to allow their implementation will be iden-
tified, as well as those promising tech-
nologies that are sufficiently mature for
field demonstration.
Summary
Printing
The pollution prevention opportunities
in printing include ink/fountain solution re-
formulation, press maintenance, alcohol
substitutes, water-soluble cleaning sol-
vents, refrigeration of fountain solution,
covering containers, and good housekeep-
ing.
Waste reduction options in the printing
process have been evaluated. The two
areas that present the most promising pol-
lution prevention opportunities are ink/foun-
tain solution reformulation and equipment
cleaning. Reformulation would involve a
change from a solvent-based to a water-
based system. Equipment cleaning waste
reduction would involve switching to a wa-
ter-based cleaner.
One potential pollution prevention op-
tion is to use a low-VOC fountain solution.
Many new water-based inks are available,
but only limited research and product de-
velopment are focused on low-VOC foun-
tain solution. A new biodegradable foun-
tain solution which can reduce VOC emis-
sions from traditional sheet printing pro-
cesses has been identified. However, cer-
tain chemicals in many ink formulations
can interfere with the chemistry of this
fountain solution. This is an area with great
emissions reduction potential.
The merits of this low-VOC fountain so-
lution are:
- The hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of
the product produces a very high reso-
lution (sharp) image;
- The superconcentrated nature of the
product permits minimum storage
space;
- The chemical nature of the product
allows use of lower quality water;
- Product use results in 30% less ink
use; and
- Current testing shows compatibility
with most available inks.
Disadvantages are:
- The necessary strength of this foun-
tain solution depends on the ink for-
mulation;
- Test projects showed trace benzene
in standing water solution, perhaps
due to sulfate-reducing bacteria in-
digenous to the South Coast Basin;
and
- The impact of potentially increased
wastewater volume.
An alternative cleaning technique for ro-
togravure printing cylinders involves the use
of aqueous solutions and ultrasonication.
Ultrasonication enhances the cleaning ef-
ficiency of aqueous detergent solutions.
The cylinders are immersed and rotated
for only a few minutes (the immersion
time may be extended or repeated for
difficult cleaning jobs).
The cylinders are then rinsed with clean
water and dried using either compressed
air or towels. Use of hot rinse water has-
tens the drying. Applicability of this tech-
nique depends on:
- The potential for damage to the cylin-
ders from the water immersion, and
- Whether the cylinders are difficult to
dry (especially if thorough drying is
costly).
AIM Coatings
High-solids coatings, inorganic coatings,
radiation-curable coatings, and waterborne
coatings are conventional products with
potential to achieve VOC compliance for
AIM coatings. New products (OS Fluids™)
from Dow Corning using volatile silicone
fluids as solvent replacement were stud-
ied. These fluids are considered to be
"Ozone Safe" by Dow Coming and are
specifically developed to remove indus-
trial soils (machining fluids, fluxes, waxes,
fats, oils, greases) from metal and other
substrates. They are useful as carriers in
a variety of coatings and other formula-
tions. OS Fluids have been used to clean
coating materials from equipment.
OS Fluids are pure methyl polysiloxanes
of linear structure, contain no additives,
and are essentially non-toxic. They de-
compose chemically in the environment.
They have a life expectancy in the atmo-
sphere of less than 30 days, after which
they decompose to carbon dioxide, silicic
acid, and water. These OS Fluids are
recyclable following vacuum distillation and
optional filter finishing steps. Product warn-
ings include proper disposal (the materi-
als are classified as ignitable waste) and
avoidance of sprays and mists (they may
pose a fire problem).
Consumer and Indutrial
Adhesives
Available technologies to minimize VOC
emissions for adhesives include reactive
diluent-based adhesives, exempt sdverrtbome
adhesives, waterborne adhesives, and sol-
ventless adhesives. Reformulated adhesives
that use exempt organic solvents are consid-
ered hazardous air pollutants and/or deleters.
Terpenes (mostly simple d-limonene
products) have been demonstrated to be
safe for use in metal cleaning applications
as a replacement for chlorinated solvents
such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane. New gen-
eration terpenes are currently being de-
veloped which have the advantages of
low odor, high flash point, low residue,
low vapor pressure, minimal waste dis-
charge, low VOC emissions, and superior
performance. While identified as a replace-
ment for solvent cleaners, it has not been
identified as a substitute for diluent sol-
vents in adhesive formulations due to its
expense and reactivity with polymers.
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Demonstration Project—
Low-VOC Fountain Solution
Based on the assessment of the emis-
sion reduction potential for printing indus-
tries, AIM coatings, and consumer and
industrial adhesives, the new low-VOC
fountain solution is a significant opportu-
nity for pollution prevention and could merit
further technology evaluation and demon-
stration.
The applicability of low-VOC fountain
solution to the printing industry was evalu-
ated in July 1993. The low-VOC fountain
solution selected for evaluation is manu-
factured by Color Brite, Inc. of Huntington
Beach, CA. The demonstration consisted
of four projects. Two were held at Color
Brite's facility, one for their ASR-red foun-
tain solution concentrate (for Pro-alcohol
dampening systems) and the other for their
APG-green (for integrated presses). The
other two facilities selected have switched
to the Color Brite Low-VOC Fountain So-
lution within the past 3 or 4 months.
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E. Huang is with the Center for Emissions Research and Analysis, City of Industry,
CA 91748.
Michael Kosusko is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Assessment of Pollution Prevention Opportunities for
Five Industries," (Order No. PB95-167367; Cost: $19.50, subject to change) will
be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
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-95/001
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