Calculations: VOC, HAP, Exempt Compounds

CALCULATING "POTENTIAL TO EMIT" FOR A BATCH CHEMICAL PROCESS

Q: I work with a company that manufactures resins in a batch process. The permit requires that the company calculate the maximum process rate, yet no two batches are of the same size nor is the residence time in the reactor the same. How can such a calculation be accomplished?

A:  A review of the company’s manufacturing records should easily be able to identify the maximum batch size that has been processed over the past year or two. Similarly, for QC purposes the operators usually keep records of the process times and it should easily be possible to get a reasonable range of the shortest and longest times. Perhaps you can even find a correlation between the batch size and the process times. I assume that this question relates to calculating the "Potential to Emit" (PTE) for a Title V facility and if this is so the company environmental representative and the agency’s permitting engineer should be able to agree on the maximum values to be used. If both parties are flexible it won’t be necessary to search for the ultimate maximum. Surely an approximate figure will suffice?

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