subject: The Role Of Solvent Recyclers After The Analytical Process [print this page] As concern for our environment begins to rise, various sectors of industry strive to become increasingly efficient in new and innovative ways. One such method is via solvent recycling, the process of reusing as much of a solvent as is possible. For those applications, a solvent recycler is an exceptional tool to boost efficiency and, in some instances, to decrease an organization's negative environmental footprint.
Solvents are used quite heavily in many chemistry applications, and often in great quantities for even a single task. High Performance Liquid Chromotography, for instance, uses extreme pressures to separate compounds into constituent chemicals, and such high pressures can only be attained by using heavy quantities of solvents. Other processes may employ solvents in the capacity of a known quantity, providing a medium within which another liquid should interact, and while some of the solvent is necessarily contaminated by contact with the solute, much of it may be salvaged for reuse in other processes.
Previously, such solvents might simply be indiscriminately disposed of where possible or, where not, processed as hazardous materials. Such policies have a number of disadvantages, however. Most obviously, they are financially disruptive over long periods of time, and any budget-challenged research organization or profit-oriented research lab focused on its bottom line might eventually discover that its costs for solvent chemicals are greater than they might like. Furthermore, in the case of solvents classified as hazardous materials, disposal costs might be prohibitive, and reusing the same solvents again is a great means of offsetting such expenses.
Such practices are also environmentally detrimental, either because they introduce excess harmful chemicals into the environment over time, or because they waste valuable resources unnecessarily. Furthermore, there may be fines associated with such unclean uses of solvents, or with their improper disposal and processing. Recycling is a great means of avoiding such fines altogether where possible.
Solvent recyclers help to address these challenges. Reusing solvents saves money on initial costs which, when used in great volumes, add up quickly over time. In cases where the solvents are hazardous, recycling them saves drastically on their disposal costs, and lessens or eliminates entirely any fines or regulatory costs associated with their improper disposal.
The processes used by these products vary widely based on the model, as well as the solvents which are intended to be processed. Often employing combinations of filtration, boiling and rotation, solvent recyclers can either remove particles from an existing solution to produce a purer solvent, or may even be able to return very specific chemical compounds from whatever solution you provide to them.
Solvent recyclers are used in a variety of industries. Most obvious is their use in scientific labs which may employ high volumes of solvents to promote a variety of chemical processes. More practically, solvent recyclers may also be employed in the construction industry, where waste mixtures of paint thinner and paints may be processed to reuse old thinner for an additional application. They are highly dynamic instruments which are sure to find a place in any chemical application which wishes to minimize waste, environmental footprints and financial costs.
