News 9/1/08

Replacement of Flammable Solvents

Replacement Of Flammable Solvents At A Polyurethane Manufacturer Makes Good Business Sense

By substituting a flammable material with a non-flammable alternative, polyurethane manufacturer, Isothane, has demonstrated that green chemistry makes good business sense.

THE BENEFITS to Isothane of green chemistry include:

• Gross cost savings of about £250,000 through avoided expenditure to comply with legislation
• Eliminating the generation and disposal of hazardous waste
• Reduced exposure of employees to hazardous materials
• Lower emissions of volatile organic compounds

How Will Envirowise Help Your Business?

• Register on the Envirowise website at www.envirowise.gov.uk for information about your industry sector
• Call the Envirowise Advice Line free on 0800 585794 for more information on green chemistry
• Find out what other support may be available - workshops, training events, on-line tools, local resource efficiency clubs, site visits - either by calling the Advice Line or by visiting the website

About Isothane

Isothane manufactures over 6,500 tonnes/year of polyurethane systems at its Huncoat site, where it employs 32 people. Uses for its products include insulating buildings, providing buoyancy for boats, protecting bridges and reinforcing roads.

Prior to 2006, flammable solvents were used to manufacture many of Isothane’s products. One in particular, EMA, which is used as a solar reflective coating, contained a flammable solvent and flammable aluminium pigment.

In 2006, the company decided to eliminate flammable materials from its product lines. In most cases this led to material substitution, but some products were discontinued.

Driver For Material Substitution

Annually, Isothane used over 153 tonnes of flammable solvents. Handling this volume of flammable material requires compliance with the ATEX Directive1. A Hazardous Areas Classification Study indicated that most equipment needed upgrading and the necessary site modifications would entail capital expenditure of at least £250,000. In addition, the site’s Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit requires the company to discharge all solvent-laden air emissions through carbon beds and meet emissions limits. By removing flammable solvents from the manufacturing process, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions have been substantially reduced and this indirectly helped to ensure that the company complies with the legislation.

Project Implementation

The timescale from inception to implementation was two months. During this time, many lesshazardous materials were assessed by the company’s R&D team to find an alternative to the flammable materials that was compatible with the remaining raw materials.

Now, Isothane uses just 22 tonnes/year of one type of nonflammable solvent rather than the 153 tonnes of three types of flammable solvent it used previously.

As no plant or equipment modifications were needed to implement the use of the new materials, the only costs involved relate to internal R&D.

Savings And Benefits

The reduction in VOC emissions has helped to ensure that Isothane now complies with the ATEX Directive and it has avoided spending £250,000 on upgrading equipment. In addition, although the exposure of employees to hazardous materials was within Control of Substances Hazardous to Health limits, the levels are now much lower.

The previous aluminium pigment used in EMA was supplied as a paste, which resulted in a significant residue being left in the container. Washing the containers was not an option because of the volume of contaminated water that would be produced, so they were disposed of as hazardous waste. The new pigment is supplied as dry beads and leaves no residue so the containers can be recycled off site.

Although the new pigment is more expensive than that used previously, the company considers this a small price to pay given the overall cost savings and other benefits.

Going Forward

The R&D team is now considering re-introducing the products that were discontinued, but producing them on a new, water-based product line.

1 Equipment and Protective Systems intended for use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres (ATEX) Directive 94/9/EC (www.berr.gov.uk/innovation/regulations/ecdirect/page12410.html).

“THE REFORMULATION OF OUR PRODUCTS HAS HAD A MAJOR POSITIVE IMPACT ACROSS THE WHOLE BUSINESS AND ENHANCED OUR REPUTATION WITH OUR CUSTOMERS.”
Peter Bullivant, Managing Director, Isothane

Visit the Envirowise website at www.envirowise.gov.uk and e-mail Envirowise with any specific questions (advice@envirowise.gov.uk)