Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
(OP)
Hello, we have some laboratories that wash the glass bottles used to collect, store and perform oil analyses. Products are HC ranging from gasoline to crude oil.
Some sites use simple machines using steam or detergents, and some sites wash them manually, using soap and brush.
Quantities varies from site to site but are in the range of a few hundred to above a thousand bottles per month.
In a recent meeting we were asked why dont we just discard used bottles, once glass bottles are cheap when compared to washing and handling. I think if you just discard the used and dirty bottles, you are tranfering an environment problem to another site and not coping with due cost.
Question: What is best washing process to be used? Considering that you are ready to conform to local strict environment regulatios.
TIA
DKF
Some sites use simple machines using steam or detergents, and some sites wash them manually, using soap and brush.
Quantities varies from site to site but are in the range of a few hundred to above a thousand bottles per month.
In a recent meeting we were asked why dont we just discard used bottles, once glass bottles are cheap when compared to washing and handling. I think if you just discard the used and dirty bottles, you are tranfering an environment problem to another site and not coping with due cost.
Question: What is best washing process to be used? Considering that you are ready to conform to local strict environment regulatios.
TIA
DKF





RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
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RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
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RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
Johnny Pellin
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
I think there must be an optimized process, something as starting with a kind of a compatible solvent washing phase followed by a rinse phase of a very thin remaining layer.
JJPellin could you please describe a little bit the process phases and steps of your system?
Our machines are static, you place a dozen bottles upside down over nests with spraying nozzles and run a quantity of detergent liquid or steam through. After this cycle you remove bottles for drying.
Could anyone comment other alternatives in use?
Regards
DKF
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
Perhaps the cheap labor could do with some training and a raise. Treatment of materials containing toxic residues from handling of benzene should not be left up to "bottle washers". You might have also hit on the "real problem" as well. Is it possible that the real hazard around there is the steam? Is it actually more dangerous to your employees than the benzene exposure itself? For what may be relatively small residues of benzene left in the bottles after initial recovery, it might not be as large of a problem as you think and even be compatible for disposal into your existing wastewater treatment system. You might want to discuss that with your environmental compliance section. Just a suggestion.
The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Reegistry offers some exposure guidelines and disposal recommendations here,
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp3-c8.pdf
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RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
Johnny Pellin
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
An entirely different approach.
In addition I instituted the use of one of our pyrolysis cleaning furnaces to clean the samples of the tarry materials and high boilers. I also clean very expensive laboratory glassware from the bench scale and pilot plants.
Though I haven't used the Pyro-Clean system it is very similar to the large units that I used.
http://www.pyroclean.com/
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
I am asking "pyroclean" if they process commercial glass bottles in addition to pyrex lab glassware, and a first idea of investment cost for basic machine. Their operation cost of around 1 US$ per washed bottle can be a limiting factor.
Maybe there are some other "waterless washing processes" to be brought up by the next contributor.
In our lab control process we are collecting samples in 1 liter bottle sizes. Our lab personnel claim that they have to follow API recommendations and cannot decrease size of sample, as was proposed, to decrease product qty returning to slope tank and nunber of bottles to wash.
Any comments on this aspect?
Thank you all once more for kind help
DKF
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
The max temperature anything will see is around 900F we have dropped this to around 800F to clean some cast Al components.
The process.
To get a little better idea of how this process work take a look around the Pollution Control Products site. These are the types we have. Our medium size oven has a nameplate BTU capacity of 900,000. There is very little electric power for the burners only as there are no fans. You might find some other things you can clean.
http://www.pcpconline.com/sb/index.php
RE: Oil sample bottles - wash for reuse or discard?
http://www.iscpubs.com/articles/aln/n0108mai.pdf