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Solvents are recycled
by separating them from waste stream contaminants. The separation
is accomplished by heating solvents to their boiling points
in distillation columns. Solvents unsuitable for recycling are
put into fuel blending or incinerated.
Solvent waste streams commonly recycled include:
- Mineral Spirits
- Solvent Blends
- Perchloroethylene
- Methylene Chloride
- Trichloroethylene
- Glycol Ether
- Acetone
- Methyl Ethyl Ketone
- DBE Glycols
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 Solvent
recycling facilities use various processing units such as vacuum
stills, thin layer evaporators, and sieve tray fractionation
columns. The recycled solvents are sold as reclaimed products
or returned to the original generator as part of a tolling arrangement.
The feasibility of recycling a solvent depends on the existence
of a profitable reuse market. If the price of the virgin solvent
is already low, it will be very difficult to sell the recycled
product for a profit. Also, solvent recycling feasibility decreases
as the amount of waste stream contaminants increase.
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