Installation and Operation of SORBATHENE * Solvent Vapor Recovery Units to Recover and Recycle Volatile Organic Compounds at Operating Sites Within the Dow Chemical Company

In 1988, the Separation Technologies Lab of The Dow Chemical Company in Michigan developed and patented a modified vacuum swing adsorption machine that captures, concentrates, and condenses the organic contaminants from the vent stream, returning a liquid mixture of the chemicals present in the inlet stream. Designed and installed under The Dow Chemical Company environmental program “Waste Reduction Always Pays,” the SORBATHENE units recover and recycle thousands of pounds of chemicals every year that incineration equipment would otherwise destroy as waste. The recovered chemicals are valuable to the company and the recycling option avoids the costs of downstream waste processing associated with thermal destruction.