Clean industry

Approximately 50% of the demand for tetrachloroethylene is in the dry-cleaning industry where about 80% of all dry cleaners use it as their primary cleaning agent. Use as a feedstock for chlorofluorocarbon production accounts for 30% of current demand. Metal cleaning and miscellaneous appHcations represent 12 and 8% of demand, respectively. The miscellaneous appHcations include such varied uses as transformer insulating fluid, chemical maskant formulations, and as a process solvent for desulfurizing coal. 

Center for Clean Industrial and Treatment Teehnologies (CenCITT)... 

Dry cleaning - Several solvents exist to replace the ozone-depleting solvents that have traditionally been used by the dry cleaning industry. Perchloroethylene has been used for more than three decades. Petroleum solvents, while flammable, can be safely used when appropriate safety precautions are taken. They include white spirit, Stoddard solvent, hydrocarbon solvents, isoparaffins, and n-paraffin. A... 

Dry Cleaning Plants, Except Rug Cleaning Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Industrial Launderers... 

Frenier, Wayne E. (Hydrochem Industrial Services). 20 Years of Advances in Technology for Chemically Cleaning Industrial Equipment A Critical Review. Paper 338, presented at the NACE International Corrosion Conference, USA 1998. 

Catalysis plays a prominent role in our society. The majority of all chemicals and fuels produced in the chemical industry have been in contact with one or more catalysts. Catalysis has become indispensable in environmental pollution control selective catalytic routes are replacing stoichiometric processes that generate waste problems. The three-way catalyst effectively reduces pollution from car engines. Catalytic processes to clean industrial exhaust gases have been developed and installed. In short, catalysis is vitally important for our economy now, and it will be even more important in the future. 

Ludwig, H. R. "Occupational Exposure to Perchloroethylene in the Dry Cleaning Industry" National Institute for Ocupational Safety and Health Cincinatti, Ohio, 1981. 

McCoy, B. C. "Study to Support New Source Performance Standards for the Dry Cleaning Industry" report prepared by TRW for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1976. 

Wolf, K., 1992, Case Study — Pollution Prevention in the Dry Cleaning Industry A Small Business Challenge for the 1990s Pollution Prevention Review, Summer, pp. 311-330. 

Carbon tetrachloride was at one time widely used in industry, and still is to a certain extent, although its use as a degreaser or common solvent has been banned in many jurisdictions. Until recently, however, it was commonly used as a degreaser and a solvent for oils, fats, lacquers, varnishes, rubber waxes, and resins. Two of its most common uses were in the dry cleaning industry and in portable fire extinguishers. 

Uses. Manufacture of phenol, aniline, DDT solvent for paint color printing dry cleaning industry... 

At one time, the dry cleaning industry relied on petroleum products for their cleaning agents. Currently, the single most popular solvent used by dry cleaners is a compound called perchloroethylene, widely known by the nickname of perc. About 30,000 dry cleaners in the United States alone use perc for their cleaning operations, accounting for about 80 percent of all such cleaning done in the country. 

The quality and suitability of reactions and chemical processes are usually dependent upon the quality of the solvent utilized. As mentioned previously, the largest volume of solvents is used in the manufacturing and cleaning industries. 

In this section we will present considerations that can be used to evaluate the environmental compatibility of solvents. The considerations are based on the Aberdeen/Green Seal Standard for Certification of Cleaning/Degreasing Agents for Steel and Alnmi-num, which was promulgated in the spring of 1999. While the standard is applicable to the cleaning industry, it rivets our attention to appropriate areas in which to evalnate solvents and solvent use. 

By using Aerosol OT-100% Surfactant in dry cleaning solvent at a concentration of ca. 0.1 oz./gal. the soaps used as aids in watei—soluble stain removal can be replaced in the dry cleaning industry. In contrast to many soaps, Aerosol OT does not oxidize with consequent development of undesirabls odor upon aging. 

Since the 1960s, the prevailing solvent at the 36,000 dry cleaning establishments in the United States has been perchloroethylene (also called perc or PCE) (USEPA, 1998). Process improvements implemented in the dry cleaning industry have greatly reduced perc usage in recent years, but annual consumption is approximately 53 million kg (Mannsville, 1997). 

Despite the widespread use, there are many health, safety, and environmental concerns associated with the use of perc. Perchloroethylene has been described as a probable human carcinogen based on both laboratory animal studies and human epidemiological studies (IARC, 1995). According to the USEPA (1998), there is a reasonable basis to conclude that there can be a health risk for cancer and some non-cancer effects to workers from the relatively high PCE exposures observed on the average in the dry cleaning industry. Risks also exist for apartment residents colocated with a perc dry cleaning facility. 

Private consortia and organizations, for example, AIChE s Center for Waste Reduction Technology (CWRT), the Center for Clean Industrial Treatment Technology (CenCITT), and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS)... 

Spotting charges for practice bombs and mines Artillery shell training adaptors Cleaning industrial furnaces... 

We acknowledge the financial support for this work by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the National Center for Clean Industrial and Treatment Technologies. We acknowledge the help of Professor Manos Mavrikakis in discussions of DFT techniques. We also thank Marco A. Sanchez-Castillo for helping us in the preparation of the manuscript and Nitin Agarwal for help on the final case study. 

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