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
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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
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