Paint Application Waste

The wastes generated during paint application are primarily due to 1) paint overspray, and 2) the failure of the application which requires the stripping, cleaning, and repainting of the item. Source reduction can be achieved by use of low overspray application equipment, proper operator training, preventive maintenance, and parts inspection. 

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Use of paint application equipment with low overspray characteristics. When comparing different types of paint application equipment, the transfer efficiency, the efficiency with which paint is applied to the object, can vary considerably. The lower the transfer efficiency, the higher the waste. 

Paint application equipment - spray guns, hoses, as well as brushes and rollers is often cleaned with solvents. Cleaning wastes can sometimes be recycled in ways such as (Lorton 1988) ... 

Implementation of waste air treatment as a secondary measure in paint application facilities... 

The largest industrial use of ultrafiltration is the recovery of paint from water-soluble coat bases (primers) applied by the wet electrodeposition process (electrocoating) in auto and appliance factories. Many installations of this type are operating around the world. The recovery of proteins in cheese whey (a waste from cheese processing) for dairy applications is the second largest application, where a... 

A matter of considerable importance in the selection of an application method is its efficiency. Spray techniques are usually inefficient, since many droplets drift past the target and are lost. Even electrostatic spraying can waste as much as 35% of the paint. There is some loss of paint in most methods, but roller coating, curtain coating and electrodeposition are very efficient. Electrodeposition is also a very useful technique where corrosion resistance is important, since it applies a uniform coating over nearly all surfaces of even the most complex-shaped article. 

By depolymerizing PET waste with a polyol and subsequently condensing the oligomeric product with a polycarboxylic acid or anhydride, polyester resins are produced which have wide industrial applications. Depending on the polyol and polycarboxylic acid or anhydride used, saturated resins, alkyd resins, or unsaturated resins are obtained. PET wastes have been used for the production of alkyd resins in water thinnable paints. The materials obtained from the reaction of PET with a mixture of fatty acids high in linoleic acid content and trimethylolethane have been used in the preparation of water-dispersible coatings. Products of the depolymerization of PET with trimethylolpropane and pentaerythritol are used in the manufacture of high-solids paints. In the first step, PET is depolymerized with trimethylopropane and pentaerythritol at temperatures of 230-240°C. The final paint compositions contain 30-50% of PET depolymerization products.12... 

RO can recover metals, antifreeze, paint, dyes, and oils in the retentate while generating cleaned up wastewater permeate for disposal. RO is also used to reduce the volume of waste liquids (e.g., spent sulfite liquor in paper manufacturing). Wastewater treatment application removals of 95 percent TOC, > 90 percent COD, > 98 percent PAH compounds, and pesticides > 99 percent have been seen [Wilhams et al., chap. 24 in Membrane Handbook, Sirkar and Ho (eds.), Van Nostrand, 1992]. 

Lead is produced from both primary (i.e., mined ore) and secondary (i.e., scrap metal and wastes) sources, and is imported by the United States. In 1997, production from primary and secondary sources was 343,000 metric tons and 1.1 million metric tons, respectively (Smith 1998), and imports reached 265,000 metric tons (Larrabee 1998 Smith 1998). Approximately 1.6 million metric tons of lead were consumed in the United States in 1997 (Smith 1998). Of lead used in 1997, 86.9% was used for storage batteries, 7.8% was used in metal products, and 5.3% was used in miscellaneous applications (Smith 1998). Because of the adverse health effects associated with exposure to lead, its use in paints, ceramic products, gasoline additives (now banned), and solder has declined dramatically in recent years. In 1997,... 

The advent of the Loeb-Sourirajan asyimnetric membrane some twenty years ago gave birth to an industry now exceeding 200 million dollars in annual sales. Reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UP) were previously only laboratory curiosities. Today, there are many large membrane plants (up to 16 million gallons per day) in service for applications as diverse as desalinating seawater concentrating serum proteins, or the recovery of paint and other by-products from waste streams. 

HDI and HDI prepolymers can be released to the atmosphere during spray applications of polymer paints containing residual amounts (0.5-1.0%) of monomeric HDI (Alexandersson et al. 1987 Hulse 1984 Karol and Hauth 1982). These substances could also be released to the atmosphere from waste streams from sites of HDI or polymer production. No information is available in the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory database on the amoimt of HDI released to the atmosphere from facihties that produce or process HDI because this compound is not included under SARA, Title 111, and therefore, is not among the chemicals that facilities are required to report (EPA 1995). There is also a potential for atmospheric release of HDI from hazardous waste sites however, no information was found on detections of HDI in air at any NPL or other Superfund hazardous waste sites (1996). Beeause of the relatively rapid reaction of HDI with hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere an possible hydrolysis (see Seetion 5.3.2.1), significant atmospheric concentrations are not expeeted to oeeur exeept near emission sourees. 

Wapora, Inc. 1975. Assesment of Industrial Hazardous Waste Practices. Paint and Applied Product Industry. Contract Solvent Reclaiming Operations, and Factory Application of Coatings. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-530-SW-119C. 

While not as widely used as in the past, heavy metal-bearing compounds are still common in many paints and coating formulations. Because of these compounds, wastes associated with the manufacturing and application of paints and coatings also contain metal-bearing compounds. 

The application of paint is practiced within most fabricated metal industries. Surface coatings are used wherever it is desired to provide decoration, protection, and/or safety marking to a product or item. Most paint coatings for fabricated metal products are solvent based although many shops are replacing these with water based materials. Because many of the paints contain heavy metals, reducing paint wastes also results in reducing metal wastes. 

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