ATEX systems for dust and VOC treatment in the paint production industry

The customer is an important Italian company which manufactures methacrylates and thermosprayed plastic. This kind of manufacturing involves the emission of calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, VOC and dusts which are harmful to the operators and the surrounding environment.

To abate these substances, the company was using an obsolete plant, which was not compliant with the current standards anymore. Tecnosida^® has been contacted to design a new plant for the paint production department. Considering the nature of the compounds, the system must be manufactured in compliance with the ATEX European directive.

After an appropriate technical inspection, Tecnosida^® designed a two-stage system to considerably reduce the emitted dusts and VOCs. The plant is composed of:

• DustDown^®self-cleaning bag filter for treatment of fine and ultra fine dusts in the airflow. The filter is equipped with a breakage panel. In case of explosion, the panel opens and discharges the deflagration outside;
• Activated carbon filter Chemsorb^® to abate VOCs emitted by the production machines. After having been treated inside the bag filter, the airflow is conveyed into the activated carbon adsorber, where the Volatile Organic Compounds are removed. This filter also complies with the ATEX directive and is equipped with a breakage panel.

As we have seen, the plant and all of its components have been designed to face the creation of a potentially explosive atmosphere inside the system. In addition to fulfilling the ATEX requirements, the plant is also equipped with:

• ATEX certified non-return valve to prevent the propagation of the potential explosion into the aspiration line;
• inverter located inside the electrical panel to monitor the energy consumption of the aspiration system;
• pressure stabiliser which keeps a constant pressure inside the collector through the inverter.

The customer is an Italian company which manufactures machines and plants for the treatment of building aggregates. One of the various company departments is a spray-painting room where substances such as varnishes and solvents are used. An environmental investigation carried out in this department by appropriate institutions showed a high concentration of VOCs emitted during the painting process. This situation is harmful to the operators as the observed exposure index is higher than the one established by the Legislative Decree No. 81/2008.
The company has therefore contacted Tecnosida to solve this problem. During the designing phase, the potentially explosive nature of the used compounds has been considered. For this reason, all components are ATEX II 3G (Zone 2 gas) certified.

After an appropriate technical inspection, Tecnosida® suggested the creation of an ATEX system composed of:

• aspiration booth in galvanised sheet, composed of a frontal suction wall in special honeycomb cardboard which protects the operators’ health by collecting the pollutants directly at their source;
• circular connection pipes with ATEX butterfly shutters for regulation/exclusion of the suction connections;
• non-return valve to prevent the propagation of a potential explosion into the aspiration line;
• activated carbon adsorber composed of two modules made of thick electro-welded steel sheet. The two-layer plant allows to treat Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted during the spray-painting process. The two adsorbers are ATEX certified and are equipped with stainless steel breakage panels to guarantee the safety of the operators and of the surrounding environment in case of explosion;
• centrifugal fan with reversed blades and a directly coupled motor in ATEX execution;
• electrical panel with inverter to adjust the suction depending on the needs and to reduce energy consumption.

The VOC and solvent abatement plant, together with the equipment, has been designed following the ATEX II 3G T3 European directive concerning equipment and protection systems to be used in potentially explosive atmosphere.

These plants are the best solution for our customers’ problems because they purify the work environment and, at the same time, they abate the dust and VOC emissions involved in paint production, in addition to showing maximum carefulness towards the creation of potentially explosive atmospheres inside or outside the plants. All our plants are designed and manufactured considering our customers’ specific needs and the features of the emitted pollutant and the production cycle.
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