Question: I work for an oil and gas company. I’m looking at the aerosol can puncturing device. How do you properly dispose of the filters after they’ve been used?
Answer: When an aerosol can is punctured, any remaining propellant and liquid are evacuated from the can into the drum. Because this could cause an unsafe amount of pressure to build up in the drum, the filter that threads into the 3/4 inch bung is designed to vent at 3 psi. If this vent was solely a vent and did not have filtration media attached, VOC vapors from the propellant and mists from whatever liquid the can contained would be released into the environment.
But, because of the two-stage filtration media, both the mist and VOCs are captured. The coalescing media in the first stage of the filter collects any liquid mist that tries to escape from the drum. Capturing this mist first helps extend the life of the carbon filtration media in the second stage. The coalescing filters are designed to allow drainage of liquids back into the drum. This keeps them under the RCRA 3% “empty” rule, allowing them to be handled as non-hazardous waste.
The activated carbon media absorbs VOC vapors, leaving the carbon and air. The EPA issued a technical bulletin discussing carbon and forms of VOC absorbents that discusses this process in great detail. The spent carbon media should then be handled as haz waste unless tested and proven to be non-hazardous or confirmed to be RCRA empty.
Ready to buy more filters for your PIG Aerosol Can Recycler? You can get more PIG Combination Filters here.
5 Comments
Rudysays:
02/25/2015 at 12:16 pmThe answer says that once the aerosol can is punctured the residue is left in the drum. What drum is the answer referring too? Then what procedure is the non hazardous disposal of the opened aerosol cans? We are in the state of California.
Karensays:
02/26/2015 at 9:56 amHi Rudy,
The PIG Aerosol Can Recycler needs to be mounted on a steel drum to operate correctly. (This is the drum that is referenced.) When an aerosol can is punctured using the unit, the residual liquid and propellant that were in the aerosol can are evacuated through the puncture hole into the collection drum.
After the aerosol can has been punctured, the can itself is now considered non-hazardous (under federal regulations) and may be recycled as scrap metal.
The residual liquid that is in the collection drum must still be managed properly. It’s a good idea to have a means of keeping track of what types of cans have been punctured so that the liquid residual in the drum can be properly manifested.
To help prevent fugitive emissions, the PIG Aerosol Can Recycler has a two-stage filter that captures aerosolized liquids as well as vapors. For most states, this is sufficient to meet air quality requirements. In California, however, air quality rules are more stringent than they are in many other parts of the country. A specialized can recycling unit is available that meets California’s requirements. If you need information on how/where to purchase that, please call us at 1-800-HOT-HOGS.
Hope this helps!
Thanks
Karen
susansays:
02/25/2015 at 6:17 pmI find that very interesting and informative. I assumed any filtering unit and carbon would be hazardous wastes. It is good to know they will not.
Sophia @ Ekocorpsays:
03/28/2015 at 4:18 amIt is quite interesting. In fact, I had the same opinion as susan about the carbon and unit hazards. This information is quite helpful.
Brittany Svobodasays:
03/30/2015 at 10:14 amThanks for your feedback, Sophia!
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