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EU review points the way for tighter emissions
control
13th May 2003 — More companies in the pharmaceutical
and chemical industries should take a longer term view of
their environmental policies following a review published
by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), says Air Products. The review warns of the need
for tighter control of a wider range of greenhouse gas emissions.
While praising the UK for making considerable progress
in reducing CO2 emission levels, the review advised
that further policies or measures would be needed to achieve
emissions reductions of complex greenhouse gas emissions,
including volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Following the publication of the review, it has been suggested
that the climate change levy, introduced in the UK as a
means of encouraging industry to adopt strategies to reduce
CO2 emissions could be extended to cover VOCs
and other such harmful substances.
Diana Raine, Business Manager for Cryogenic Applications
at Air Products comments:
"This review highlights that further legislation to
reduce the emission of air pollutants is likely and as a
result, many industries will need to take a longer term
view of the technologies required to meet targets set now
and in the future.
"Cryogenic condensation technology - which uses liquid
nitrogen as a refrigerant to recover harmful emissions -
has already proved its efficacy and has become a leading
emissions control solution across Europe."
As well as being an effective means of emissions recovery,
cryogenic condensation technology, such as Air Products'
CryoCondap™, is an efficient option for industrial
plant managers as the system can recover complex VOCs in
one single process and reuse the liquid nitrogen.
Emissions control is already a priority issue for many
industries, where solvents and VOCs are produced and cryogenic
condensation technology, provides a cost-effective long
term solution, with the flexibility to meet further reductions
in emissions targets in the future.
Diana Raine comments: "Cryogenic condensation systems
represent the cleanest and most effective way to remove
harmful emissions such as VOCs from exhaust gas streams,
in order to meet emission levels as specified by TA Luft
1. Such systems
can also be easily adapted in the future to meet even tighter
emissions targets, by reducing the operating temperature."
The cryogenic condensation process is relatively simple.
The exhaust gas stream, containing the solvents or VOCs,
is cooled to freezing point using liquid nitrogen so that
they can be condensed and collected. The cooling takes place
in a low temperature condenser, so the exhaust gas stream
and the liquid nitrogen do not come into contact. The clean
nitrogen can then be recycled and used elsewhere if applicable,
which can significantly reduce operating costs.
The cryogenic condensation system can be used to recover
nearly all types of VOCs, including hexane, methyl chloride,
acetone, ethyl acetate, toluene, trichlethylene and dichloromethane.
The most recent development in the CryoCondap family is
the CryoCondap™ ExStream® which has been specifically
developed for low flow rate installations.
Diana Raine explains: "Lower flow rates, up to 300Nm³/h,
combined with a low operating temperature can make recovery
of some VOCs difficult. To address this problem we have
developed a new cryogenic solution, CryoCondap ExStream,
which can help companies meet this specialist requirement."
For more information about cryogenic condensation technology,
contact Air Products on 0800 389 0202, e-mail contact
or visit www.airproducts.com/voc
1 TA
Luft is the German Technical Directive for Air Pollution
Abatement, which has set emissions limits
for air pollutants. These emissions limits
have set a benchmark for emissions limits across the EU.
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