ENGS 89/90 Reports

Year of Graduation

2024

Project Advisor

Emme Burgin

Instructor

Mark Laser

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

CleanPlanet Chemical, a solvent distillation recycling company, specializes in recycling spent solvents from industrial sectors, thereby diverting hazardous waste from incineration or landfill disposal. However, CleanPlanet Chemical faces a significant challenge within its own distillation system. As solvent is distilled from the waste material, the concentration of waste increases in the system. The distillation process must stop at a contaminant-to-solid ratio that guarantees the concentrated waste remains flowable so that it can be discharged. Consequently, the amount of solvent that can be recycled within a single cycle is limited by this certain ratio. The solvent that remains in the waste represents lost income to CleanPlanet and increased hazardous waste disposal volume for its customers. Currently, a scraper system is used to agitate solid material off the interior vessel surfaces in order to increase the acceptable waste concentration. However, if the waste concentration should increase to the point that the material is no longer flowable, the scraper system can become jammed, disabling the system and requiring significant time and resources to restore functionality. This project is focused on developing a more efficient and robust evacuation system capable of handling solid contaminants while maintaining or exceeding current solvent extraction rates. Multiple tests were conducted to assess the impact of contaminant solidification on solvent extraction efficiency and waste extraction efficiency for various prototypes. Based on promising results, proposed changes were recommended to CleanPlanet Chemical’s current distillation system, with the primary goals of surpassing the existing contaminant-to-solvent ratio while maintaining solvent output.

Download

Restricted

Available to Dartmouth community via local IP address.

Share

COinS