Frequently Asked Questions

Q       Is “Trike” banned?

A        No, trichloroethylene has been reclassified to R45 (“May Cause Cancer”) and to Category 2 Carcinogen which are Health & Safety considerations.  However this has greatly influenced it’s standing under VOC (environmental) legislation.  The timetable for compliance for many solvents with classifications including R45, R46, R49, R60 and R61 is different - compliance for such compounds is “at the earliest opportunity”.  Installations using other products must be compliant by 31 October 2007.

Q       Can enclosing my existing open top solvent system bring it in line with new legislation?

A        Almost certainly not.  The Consumption threshold for trichloroethylene is 1 tonne p.a.  Once exceeded the “hierarchy of compliance” will take effect.  The legislation confirms that any “significant change” to an existing installation will render it a “new installation” and, as such, must be compliant immediately.

Q       Can double lidded systems or multi lidded tank systems be compliant?

A        Unless the installation is very small it is virtually impossible to achieve compliance by simply relying upon a second lid and increased cooling - EuroNorm Standard EN12921 will require that residual chamber solvent concentrations must be below 1gm/m3 before operator access is permitted.  

If non regenerable activated carbon is used as the primary engineering design feature to reduce emissions or concentrations, the ongoing costs of replacement should be accurately determined.

Saturated carbon is classified as Hazardous Waste and, with only 16 UK registered landfill sites for such waste, the only recognised solution is incineration - a process set to increase rapidly in cost.

When costs of carbon disposal are calculated and added to the consumable cost of solvent purchase,

the actual price will be some 25 - 50 x per litre cost of the initial solvent purchase.

          The potential supplier should be asked to give a written guarantee of long term compliance with all legislation and EU Standards and commit to covering all the costs of abatement for the life of the installation.  No such manufacturers of such systems survived beyond 1993 in Germany.  In the UK most have already been consigned to history.

Q       Can Roll GmbH systems guarantee compliance?

A        Absolutely.  The use of vacuum drying ensures that residual solvent immediately evaporates from component parts as the boiling point is reduced.  The MULTISOLVER carbon system is a very small unit and operates only as the final “policeman” to reduce chamber solvent concentration to below 1gm/m3.   

Less efficient recirculating hot air used by competitors requires much larger carbon units to achieve any form of compliance.  It should be noted that the carbon adsorbtion/desorbtion process effectively reduces the amount of stabiliser in the solvent (with methylene chloride the stabilisers are 100% removed) - the imbalance requires regular addition of new (expensive) stabilisers.

Q     Will I need an exhaust stack or chimney with a Roll GmbH system?

A        No.  Because the whole cycle is PLC and ppm concentration controlled the chamber door cannot be opened until 1gm/m3 is achieved.  Competitors systems operate on a time programmed basis, if the wrong wash cycle is selected there is the possibility that excess solvent remains on (or in) the parts and is passed to the carbon unit which will rapidly saturate and therefore a route to atmosphere is required to protect the operator from exposure above the official Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL).   

          In the worst cases liquid solvent can even be transferred out of the chamber to expose the workplace and operators.  With Roll GmbH technology the only problem with incorrect programme selection would be a longer drying time as the required chamber vacuum is acquired.   

Q       What about process or cycle times?

            Clearly cycle times are generally longer than experienced with open tank systems – the legislation is deigned to drastically reduce VOC emissions.  However, the vacuum drying associated with Roll GmbH technology is substantially more efficient that utilising recirculating hot air and cycles of up to 10 per hour can be achieved.