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Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Copolymers Source Category 

US EPA CAA Section 114 Emissions Testing and Resin Sampling README 

July 16, 2010 

WARNING 

This Microsoft Excel workbook contains a compilation of emissions testing and resin sampling 

data received by US EPA in response to requirements under CAA section 114 of companies in 

the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and copolymers source category. The information contained in this 

workbook are the data as received by EPA and as such, have not been standardized or otherwise 

reformatted (with certain limited exceptions). This workbook is provided for informational 

purposes only and users are cautioned against performing analyses on the data and information 

contained in this file. 

OVERVIEW

US EPA issued a Clean Air Act (CAA) section 114 information collection request for the 

polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and copolymers production source category. The information 

collection request was mailed to companies on August 12, 2009. Responses to the emissions 

testing and resin sampling portion of the request were due to US EPA on February, 28, 2010. 

This workbook file contains a compilation of emissions testing and resin sampling data received 

through June 21, 2010. Data received after that point will be reviewed, consolidated, and added 

to future versions of the workbook. This workbook does not contain data or information 

received by US EPA from the required survey portion of the request. Survey response 

information is contained in a separate database file. 

There are eleven (11) worksheets within the workbook. Each worksheet contains consolidated 

data for all facilities that submitted data. Descriptions of each worksheet can be found below. 

Worksheet Name Description 

COTHCCH4MonitoringData 30 days of CO-THC-CH4 monitoring data for each facility. 

COTHCCEMS CEMS data submitted by facilities. 

30DayProcess-Stripper 

30 days of resin type, grade, production, and moisture data collected at the stripping 

unit. 

30DayProcess-Dryer 

30 days of resin type, grade, production, and moisture data collected at the dryer 

unit. 

30DayProcess-Fuel 30 days of fuel data on an equipment basis. 

30DayProcess-TO 30 days of process data collected from the thermal oxidation units. 

30DayProcess-Scrubber 30 days of process data collected from scrubbers. 

30DayProcess-Adsorber 30 days of process data collected from adsorbers. 

EmissionsTesting Results of emissions testing conducted at each facility. 

ResinSampling-Stripper HAP analysis of resin slurry samples collected prior to the dryer. 

ResinSampling-Dryer HAP analysis of resin collected after the dryer. 
 

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WORKBOOK CREATION 

The following is a brief outline of the steps taken in creation of the workbook. 

Data submitted to EPA in one or more of the data templates provided were compiled for all 

companies into a single master Excel workbook. Individual data template files correspond to the 

master workbook sheets as shown below: 

 

Excel Data Template File Name Consolidated Data Worksheet Name 

PVC_30Day_Process_Data_rev20100222.xls 30DayProcess-Stripper 

30DayProcess-Dryer 

30DayProcess-Fuel 

30DayProcess-TO 

30DayProcess-Scrubber 

30DayProcess-Adsorber 

PVC_CO_CEMS_Monitoring.xls COTHCCEMS 

PVC_CO-THC-CH4_Monitoring.xls COTHCCH4MonitoringData 

PVC_ResinSampling_Data.xls ResinSampling-Stripper 

ResinSampling-Dryer 

PVC_Testing-Emissions_Data.xls EmissionsTesting 

Following compilation of the submitted data, QA/QC was performed by cross-checking 

submitted data against the compiled worksheets. The QA/QC process resulted in the following 

observations and revisions to the data: 

o Blank records were removed. 

o To the extent possible, identifiers such as Process Unit ID, Equipment ID, Resin 

Grade, etc. were standardized by including dashes to correspond to the format 

requested by EPA. 

o To the extent possible, reported resin types were standardized (Suspension, 

Dispersion, etc.). 

o Numeric values reported as percentages were reformatted to remove the percent 

symbol (%). 

o Columns were added to incorporate additional information provided by facilities 

on templates. 

o For test results below detection limits, facilities reported results as “Non-Detect” 

(ND) or as the detection limit in brackets (e.g., [<0.10]). No modification of any 

facility’s submitted format was made in the workbook with regards to detection 

limits. 

Concurrent with the process, resin, and emissions data compilation, CO/THC/CH4 monitoring

data submitted by each facility was combined into a single workbook. Since three facilities 

submitted CO/THC/CH4 monitoring templates with additional columns, the additional columns 

were added to each facility’s CO/THC/CH4 monitoring data set (although they are null records). 

The data sets were then compiled into the format presented in the final workbook. 
 

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One facility submitted hourly monitoring data which is not included in this version of the 

combined data. 

Three facilities submitted CO/THC continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) data. The 

three data sets were compiled into a single workbook similar to the CO/THC/CH4 data. 

The final step in the master workbook creation was the combination of the process, emission, 

and resin sampling data with the CO/THC/CH4 and CO/THC CEMS data.