Sludge minimization and production improvement by changing filtration and reaction techniques in vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymerization

The handling of generated sludge waste during polymer production is one of the main environmental concerns of the polymer industry. An alternative filtration technique was applied to determine the efficiency of different types of filtering media for polymer production. A vibration filter media was replaced with a non-woven fabric filter that was previously used in the refining facility. The purpose of this study is to analyze how much the new filtration affects sludge generation and final production. The application of these alternative filtration techniques have resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of non-recyclable sludge by approximately 77%, while the total amount of polymer production has increased by 41% during the six-year study period. The refining facility saved a total of 617,710 USD/y by changing the filtration system, resulting in an increase in product recovery and a decrease in sludge generation, as well as an improvement in reaction conditions.