Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 120 - Air Resources › Subchapter 05 - Air Pollution Control › Part 36 - Control of Emissions from Organic Solvent Cleaning › Section 250-RICR-120-05-36.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Unless otherwise expressly defined in this
				  section, the terms used in this Regulation shall be defined by reference to
				  Part 0 of this Subchapter, General Definitions Regulation. As used in this
				  Regulation, the following terms shall, where the context permits, be construed
				  as follows:
1. "Air blanket" means the layer
				  of air inside the solvent cleaning machine freeboard located above the
				  solvent/air interface. The centerline of the air blanket is equidistant between
				  the sides of the machine.
2.
				  "As-applied VOC content" means the VOC content of a cleaning solvent at the
				  time of use, including any solvent, catalyst or other substance added to the
				  as-supplied cleaning solvent. "As-applied VOC content" is determined using an
				  EPA reference method, a California Air Resources Board reference method or
				  other method approved by the Director and EPA.
3. "Automated parts handling system" means a
				  mechanical device that carries all parts and parts baskets through the cleaning
				  cycle at a controlled speed from the initial loading of contaminated or wet
				  parts cold cleaning through the removal of the cleaned or dried parts.
				  Automated parts handling systems include, but are not limited to, hoists and
				  conveyors.
4. "Batch cleaning"
				  means the process in which individual parts or a set of parts move through an
				  entire cleaning cycle before new parts are introduced into the solvent cleaning
				  machine.
5. "Capture efficiency"
				  means the ratio of VOC emissions delivered to the control device to the total
				  VOC emissions resulting from industrial solvent cleaning, expressed as a
				  percentage.
6. "Carbon adsorber"
				  means a bed of activated carbon which adsorbs solvent from an air-solvent
				  gas-vapor stream.
7. "Clean liquid
				  solvent" means fresh unused solvent, recycled solvent, or used solvent that has
				  been cleaned of contaminants (e.g., skimmed of oils or sludge and strained of
				  metal chips).
8. "Cleaning
				  activity" means the use of solvents to remove contaminants including, but not
				  limited to, adhesives, inks, paint, dirt, soil, oil, and grease from parts,
				  products, tools, machinery, equipment, vessels, and work production related
				  areas for a variety of reasons, including safety, operability, and to avoid
				  product contamination; this includes activities such as wiping, flushing, or
				  spraying. Examples of such activities may include, but are not limited to, the
				  cleaning of spray booths, spray guns, and printing presses.
9. "Cleaning capacity" means, for a cleaning
				  machine without a solvent/air interface, the maximum volume of parts that can
				  be cleaned at one time. In most cases, the cleaning capacity is equal to the
				  volume (length x width x height) of the cleaning chamber.
10. "Cleaning solvent" means any
				  VOC-containing liquid, including a liquid impregnated wipe or towelette, used
				  in cleaning.
11. "Cold cleaning"
				  means an organic solvent cleaning process which cleans and removes contaminants
				  or water from surfaces by spraying, brushing, flushing, immersing, or drying
				  parts. Cleaning machines that use heated, nonboiling solvent to clean the parts
				  are classified as cold solvent cleaning machines. Wipe cleaning is not included
				  in this definition.
12.
				  "Consumption" means the amount of solvent added to the solvent cleaning
				  machine.
13. "Contaminants" means
				  contaminants or soils that are removed from the parts being cleaned which
				  include, but are not limited to, grease, oils, waxes, metal chips, carbon
				  deposits, fluxes, and tars.
14.
				  "Control device efficiency" means the ratio of VOC emissions recovered or
				  destroyed by the control device to the total VOC emissions that are introduced
				  into the device, expressed as a percentage.
15. "Cover" means a lid, top, or portal cover
				  that shields the solvent cleaning machine openings from air disturbances when
				  in place and is designed to be easily opened and closed without disturbing the
				  vapor zone. Air disturbances include, but are not limited to, lip exhaust,
				  ventilation fans, and general room drafts. Types of covers include, but are not
				  limited to, sliding, bi-parting, and rolltop covers.
16. "Dwell" means the technique of holding
				  parts within the freeboard zone but above the vapor zone of the solvent
				  cleaning machine. Dwell is used after cleaning to allow solvent to drain from
				  parts or parts baskets back into the solvent cleaning machine.
17. "Dwell time" means the amount of time
				  that a part dwells in the freeboard zone of the solvent cleaning
				  machine.
18. "Emission" means the
				  release or discharge, directly or indirectly, of one (1) or more air pollutants
				  into the air.
19. "Freeboard
				  height" means; for a batch cleaning machine, the distance from the solvent/air
				  interface, measured during the idling mode, to the top of the cleaning machine;
				  for an in-line cleaning machine, it is the distance from the solvent/air
				  interface to the bottom of the entrance or exit opening, whichever is lower, as
				  measured during the idling mode.
20. "Freeboard ratio" means the freeboard
				  height divided by the width of the smaller interior dimension of the organic
				  solvent cleaning machine.
21.
				  "Freeboard zone" means; for a batch cleaning machine, the zone within the
				  solvent cleaning machine that extends from the solvent/air interface to the top
				  of the solvent cleaning machine; for an in-line cleaning machine, it is the
				  zone within the solvent cleaning machine that extends from the solvent/air
				  interface to the bottom of the entrance or exit opening, whichever is
				  lower.
22. "Halogenated hazardous
				  air pollutant solvent" or "halogenated HAP solvent" means trichloroethylene
				  (CAS No. 79-01-6), perchloroethylene (CAS No. 127-18-4), 1,1,1-trichloroethane
				  (CAS No. 71-55-6), methylene chloride (CAS No. 75-09-2), chloroform (CAS No.
				  67-66-3), or carbon tetrachloride (CAS No. 56.23-5).
23. "Hazardous air pollutant" means any
				  pollutant which has been listed pursuant to
				  42 U.S.C. §
												7412(b) (CAA § 112(b))
				  or which is listed in Part 22 of this Subchapter, Air Pollution Control
				  Regulation No. 22 - Air Toxics.
24.
				  "High precision products" means products for which contamination must be
				  minimized in accordance with a customer or other specification including but
				  not limited to:
a. Products for use in
				  extreme environments;
b. Products
				  covered by rigorous military or commercial specifications that require
				  extremely accurate, and quality controlled manufacturing and;
c. Products with quality standards that do
				  not allow for potential excess contamination.
25. "Hoist" means a mechanical device that
				  carries the parts basket and the parts to be cleaned from the loading area into
				  the solvent cleaning machine and to the unloading area at a controlled speed. A
				  hoist may be operated by controls or may be programmed to cycle parts through
				  the cleaning cycle automatically.
26. "Idling mode" means the time period when
				  a solvent cleaning machine is not actively cleaning parts and the sump heating
				  coils, if present, are turned on.
27. "In-line cleaning" means an organic
				  solvent cleaning machine that uses an automated parts handling system,
				  typically a conveyor, to automatically provide a continuous supply of parts to
				  be cleaned. These units are fully enclosed except for the conveyor inlet and
				  exit openings. In-line cleaning machines can be either cold or vapor cleaning
				  machines.
28. "Industrial solvent
				  cleaning" means the use of cleaning solvent to remove uncured adhesives,
				  uncured inks, uncured coatings, or contaminants such as dirt, soil or grease
				  from parts, products, tools, machinery, equipment, or work areas, where such
				  parts, products, tools, machinery, equipment, and work areas are incorporated
				  into or used exclusively in manufacturing a product.
a. Industrial solvent cleaning includes, but
				  is not limited to:
Spray gun cleaning, spray booth cleaning, cleaning of
					 manufactured components, parts cleaning, cleaning of production equipment for
					 maintenance or to prohibit cross-contamination, and cleaning of tanks, mixing
					 pots, process vessels and lines.
b. Industrial solvent cleaning does not
				  include:
(1) The cleaning of personal
				  protection equipment, such as respirators.
(2) Solvent cleaning machines as defined in
				  §
													36.5(A)(40)
				   of this Part.
29. "Janitorial cleaning" means
				  general and maintenance cleaning of building or facility components including,
				  but not limited to, floors, ceilings, walls, windows, doors, stairs, restrooms,
				  furnishings, kitchens, and exterior surfaces of office equipment. "Janitorial
				  cleaning" includes graffiti removal.
a.
				  Janitorial cleaning does not include:
(1) The
				  cleaning of parts, products, or equipment, where such parts, products or
				  equipment are incorporated into or used exclusively in manufacturing a
				  product.
(2) The cleaning of work
				  areas, such as laboratory benches, where manufacturing or repair activity is
				  performed.
30.
				  "Leakproof coupling" means a threaded or other type of coupling that prevents
				  solvents from leaking while filling or draining solvent to and from the solvent
				  cleaning machine.
31. "Lip exhaust"
				  means a device installed at the top of the opening of a solvent cleaning
				  machine that draws air and solvent vapor from the freeboard zone and removes
				  the air and vapor from the solvent cleaning area.
32. "Medical device" means an instrument,
				  apparatus, implement, machine, gadget, appliance, implant, in vitro reagent or
				  other similar or related article, including any component, part, or accessory,
				  which meets one (1) of the following conditions:
a. Recognized in the official National
				  Formulary or the United States Pharmacopeia or any supplement
				  thereto,
b. Intended for use in the
				  diagnosis of disease or other conditions or in the cure, mitigation, treatment,
				  or prevention of disease, in persons or animals, or
c. Intended to affect the structure or
				  function of the body of a person or animal, and which does not achieve its
				  primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on such body and
				  which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of its
				  primary intended purposes.
33. "Open top area" means the solvent/air
				  interface area which is open to the atmosphere during operations.
34. "Organic solvent cleaning" means the
				  process of cleaning contaminants or water from surfaces by cold cleaning or
				  vapor cleaning using Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) or volatile Hazardous Air
				  Pollutants.
35. "Overall control
				  efficiency" means the efficiency of a control system, calculated as the product
				  of the capture efficiency and the control device efficiency, expressed as a
				  percentage.
36. "Part" means any
				  object that is cleaned in the solvent cleaning machine. Parts include, but are
				  not limited to, discrete parts, assemblies, or sets of parts.
37. "Primary condenser" means a series of
				  cooling coils on a vapor cleaning machine through which a chilled substance is
				  circulated to provide continuous condensation of rising solvent vapors and,
				  thereby, create a concentrated solvent vapor zone.
38. "Refrigerated freeboard chiller" means a
				  control device mounted above the primary condenser coils consisting of
				  secondary coils which carry a refrigerant to provide a chilled air blanket
				  above the solvent vapor to reduce emissions from the solvent cleaning
				  machine.
39. "Remote-reservoir cold
				  cleaning" means cold cleaning using equipment which pumps liquid solvent to a
				  sink-like work area and then drains the solvent back into an enclosed container
				  while parts are being cleaned, allowing no solvent to pool in the work
				  area.
40. "Screen printing" means a
				  method of creating an image by pressing ink through a screen or fabric to which
				  a stencil has been applied and where the stencil openings determine the form
				  and dimensions of the image.
41.
				  "Soils" means contaminants that are removed from the parts being cleaned. Soils
				  include, but are not limited to, grease, oils, waxes, metal chips, carbon
				  deposits, fluxes, and tars.
42.
				  "Solvent/air interface" means, for a vapor cleaning machine, the location of
				  contact between the concentrated solvent vapor layer and the air. If this
				  location cannot be determined, it is assumed to be at the mid-line height of
				  the primary condenser coils. For a cold solvent cleaning machine, it is the
				  location of contact between the liquid solvent and the air.
43. "Solvent/air interface area" means for a
				  vapor cleaning machine, the surface area of the solvent vapor zone that is
				  exposed to the air; for an inline cleaning machine, it is the total surface
				  area of all the sumps; for a cold cleaning machine, it is the surface area of
				  the liquid solvent that is exposed to the air.
44. "Solvent cleaning machine" means any
				  device or piece of equipment that uses solvent liquid or vapor to remove
				  contaminants from the surfaces of materials. Types of solvent cleaning machines
				  include, but are not limited to, batch vapor, in-line vapor, in-line cold, and
				  batch cold solvent cleaning machines.
45. "Solvent vapor zone" means; for a vapor
				  cleaning machine, the zone that extends from the liquid solvent surface to the
				  level that solvent vapor is condensed. This condensation level is defined as
				  the midline height of the primary condenser coils.
46. "Special and extreme solvent metal
				  cleaning" means the use of a cold solvent cleaning machine to clean metal parts
				  where such metal parts are used in any of the following applications:
a. Research, development, manufacture and
				  rework of electronic parts, assemblies, boxes, wiring harnesses, sensors and
				  connectors used in aerospace service; or
b. Research, development, manufacture, and
				  rework of high precision products for which contamination must be minimized in
				  accordance with a customer or other specification.
47. "Sump" means the part of a solvent
				  cleaning machine where the liquid solvent is located.
48. "Sump heater" or "sump heater coils"
				  means the heating system on a cleaning machine that uses steam, electricity, or
				  hot water to heat or boil the liquid solvent.
49. "Superheated vapor system" means a system
				  that heats solvent vapor to a temperature above the solvent's boiling point.
				  Parts are held (dwell) in the superheated vapor to evaporate the liquid solvent
				  on them before exiting the machine. Hot vapor recycle is an example of a
				  superheated vapor system.
50.
				  "Vapor cleaning" means a batch or in-line solvent cleaning machine that boils
				  liquid solvent generating solvent vapor that is used as a part of the cleaning
				  or drying cycle.
51. "Volatile
				  Organic Compound" or "VOC" means "Volatile Organic Compounds and Halogenated
				  Organic Compounds" or "VOC" and "HOC".
52. "Working mode" means the time period when
				  the solvent cleaning machine is actively cleaning parts.