PAINT SPRAY BOOTH DESIGN USING RECIRCULATION PARTITIONING VENTILATION/

Many spray painting facility operators have been under pressure to red uce the discharge of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions to the atmosphere. Some operators have been able to convert their operations to lower VOC containing paints and coatings such as powder coating, wa terborne coating, and radiation cured coatings. However, because of th e functional requirements for some painted surfaces, acceptable paints with low VOC content may not be available. Consequently, these manufa cturers may require the continued use of the higher VOC content paint formulations. The control of emissions from paint booths has been cons idered not economically viable due to the cost of treating the high vo lume of polluted air exhausted from these sources. Studies conducted b y EPA with various Department of Defense (DoD) services, however, have demonstrated that the cost associated with typical spray booth contro l system can be significantly reduce through the use of spray booth re circulation. Reductions of exhaust flow rates of up to 90 percent may be possible when using recirculation in properly designed and operated booths without concern for the industrial hygiene or fire safety issu es often mentioned when discussing recirculating booths. This paper pr esents the results of the design and demonstration program of full sca le recirculating spray paint booths installed and operated at the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), Marine Corp Logistics Bases (MCLB) facility at B arstow, CA. It also summarizes the regulatory and safety design issues of recirculation spray booths.