Manufacturing particulate matter

Wood-fired power boilers are generally found at the mills where wood products are manufactured. They are fired with waste materials from the process, such as "hogged wood," sander dust, sawdust, bark, or process trim. Little information is available on gaseous emissions from wood-fired boilers, but extensive tests of particulate matter emissions are reported (19). These emissions range from 0.057 to 1.626 gm per dry standard cubic meter, with an average of 0.343 reported for 135 tests. Collection devices for particulate matter from wood-fired boilers are shown in Table 30-21. 

Particulate matter emissions are the primary concern with cement manufacture. Fugitive emissions and uncontrolled kiln emissions are shown in Table 30-23. 

In April of 1998, the EPA published a final rule for emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), hydrocarbons (EIC), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and smoke opacity for newly manufactured and rcmanufacturcd locomotives. The rulemaking took effect in 2000 and is estimated by the EPA to cost the railroads 80 million per year—about 163 per ton of NOx reduced, according to EPA figures. The emissions standards for the several pollutants will be implemented in three tiers—for locomotives... 

Almost all the major car, bus, and truck manufacturers have developed compressed natural gas engines and vehicles. These manufacturers have been able to offer better performance (due to higher octane) and far lower emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In 1998, Honda introduced the cleanest internal combustion engine vehicle ever commercially produced the natural gas Civic GX with emissions at one-tenth the state of California s Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standard. Primarily due to the high octane of natural gas, Honda achieved these results without sacrificing performance. 

Particulate, as well as microbial, contamination must be guarded against when sterile products are being manufactured. Thus, walls, ceilings and floors should possess smooth, impervious surfaces which will (i) prevent the accumulation of dust or other particulate matter and (ii) allow for easy and repeated cleaning and disinfection. For the same reasons, where walls and floors or ceilings meet, covings should be used. 

Injections and infusion fluids must be manufactured in a manner that will minimize or eliminate extraneous particulate matter. Parenteral solutions are generally filtered through 0.22 pm membrane filters to achieve sterility and remove particulate matter. Prefiltration through a coarser filter is often necessary to maintain adequate flow rates, or to prevent clogging of the filters during large-scale manufacturing. A talc or carbon filtration aid (or other filter aids) may also be necessary. If talc is used, it should be pretreated with a dilute acid solution to remove surface alkali and metals. 

When an ophthalmic ointment is manufactured, all raw material components must be rendered sterile before compounding unless the ointment contains an aqueous fraction that can be sterilized by heat, filtration, or ionizing radiation. The ointment base is sterilized by heat and appropriately filtered while molten to remove extraneous foreign particulate matter. It is then placed into a sterile steam-jacketed kettle to maintain the ointment in a molten state under aseptic conditions, and the previously sterilized active ingredients) and excipients are added aseptically. While still molten, the entire ointment may be passed through a previously sterilized colloid mill for adequate dispersion of the insoluble components. 

No information was found on atmospheric concentrations of chlordecone other than historic monitoring data from samples collected in the vicinity of the manufacturing site. Chlordecone has been monitored in surface waters, particularly during the period shortly before and after production was terminated. In 1977, chlordecone was detected in surface water samples from the James River at low concentrations (less than 10 ng/L [ppt]), although it was not detected in more recent monitoring studies. The highest concentrations of this compound are found in sediments, principally in the James River where it had accumulated after the deposition of particulate matter to which the chlordecone was bound. In 1978, chlordecone was detected in sediments from the James River below its production site at concentrations in the mg/kg (ppm) range. 

The determination of the quantity 4, the fractional increase in cleaning frequency due to particulate matter, is the difficult part of the problem. The data of chelson and Tourin (cited in Spence and Haynie ) suggest a value of v for paint of 1.5/yr. The value of Q is obtained as follows According to Noble, the annual production of paint in 1968 was 2.59 billion. Because the economic life of paint is considered to be 4 yr, 10.36 billion worth of paint is in place, of which only 70% is exposed to atmospheric pollutants. Thus, 7.25 billion is the manufacturers value of in-place paint exposed to air pollution. Using a labor factor of 3.3, the total in-place value of paint is 23.9 billion. Because i - 1.5 for particulate soiling, the cost of pollution damage (cleaning costs) is some 36 billion/yr. 

Clean rooms are environmentally controlled areas within the pharmaceutical facility in which critical manufacturing steps for injectable/sterile (bio)pharmaceuticals must be undertaken. The rooms are specifically designed to protect the product from contamination. Common potential contaminants include microorganisms and particulate matter. These contaminants can be airborne, or derived from process equipment, personnel, etc. 

Several factors of design and manufacture are of great importance sterility, absence of pyrogens and foreign particulate matter, and tonicity. The last, when adjusted to the osmotic pressure of body fluids in the case of aqueous solutions, reduces the risk of tissue irritation and pain,... 

Wash trials are carried out by the use of soiled test pieces, eg, commonly used stains for protease evaluation are milk, blood, and grass. Commercial pre-soiled test pieces also may contain particulate matter, eg, carbon black, as part of the stain matrix. Test materials are available ready-to-use from a number of research and testing institutes in Europe and the United States, eg, Center for Testmaterials, Vlaardingen, Holland Wascherei Forschungs Institut, Krefeld, Germany EMPA, St. Gallen, Switzedand Institut voor Reinigingstechnieken TNO, Delft, Holland and Testfabrics, Middlesex, New Jersey. Alternatively, enzyme manufacturers can supply preparation procedures. 

Another SOP category related to the physical facility is environmental control. All plants must be kept free of rodents and insects. Such an SOP will indicate acceptable materials to be used, precautions to prevent product and personnel contamination, frequency, and area-monitoring procedure. In some operations, such as an area to manufacture sterile products, there are requirements for control of air temperature, humidity, flow rates and patterns, and particulate matter. These SOPs require steps such as checks to be performed, including temperature reading and frequency, maintenance to be performed, such as changing air filters and frequency, recording instrument checks, and calibration, such as for temperature and frequency. A prototype SOP is illustrated in Figure 6. 

CFR211.46 states that a) Adequate ventilation shall be provided, b) Equipment for adequate control over air pressure, micro-organisms, dust, humidity, and temperature shall be provided when appropriate for the manufacture, processing, packaging, or holding of a drug product, c) Air filtration system, including prefilters and particulate matter air filters, shall be used when appropriate on air suppliers to production areas. ... 

In the pure form, CDDs are colorless solids or crystals. CDDs enter the environment as mixtures containing a variety of individual components and impurities. In the environment they tend to be associated with ash, soil, or any surface with a high organic content, such as plant leaves. In air and water, a portion of the CDDs may be found in the vapor or dissolved state, depending on the amount of particulate matter, temperature, and other environmental factors. 2,3,7,8-TCDD is odorless. The odors of the other CDDs are not known. CDDs are known to occur naturally, and are also produced by human activities. They are naturally produced from the incomplete combustion of organic material by forest fires or volcanic activity. CDDs are not intentionally manufactured by industry, except in small amounts for research purposes. They are unintentionally produced by industrial, municipal, and domestic incineration and combustion processes. Currently, it is believed that CDD emissions associated with human incineration and combustion activities are the predominant environmental source. 

There are stringent controls over emissions of particulate matter and solvent vapours—not only must a factory be of standard sufficient to meet the relevant exposure limits (which are controlled under the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, and subsequent regulations) but manufacturers have a legal duty to ensure that exposure and emissions are (in the official phrase) as low as is reasonably practicable . Specific values as limits for emissions of particulates and vapours are laid down under the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. In effect this means that there must be continuing attention to the maintenance of operating standards, and to the improvement of formulations—and on the latter, paint technologists are following two main lines of advance ... 

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