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Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

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18<br />

Concentration <strong>of</strong> <strong>Solvents</strong> in<br />

Various Industrial Environments<br />

18.1 MEASUREMENT AND ESTIMATION OF SOLVENTS EMISSION<br />

AND ODOR<br />

Margot Scheithauer<br />

Institut für Holztechnologie Dresden, Germany<br />

18.1.1 DEFINITION “SOLVENT” AND “VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS”<br />

(VOC)<br />

<strong>Solvents</strong> are generally understood to be substances that can physically dissolve other substances,<br />

more narrowly they are inorganic and organic liquids able to dissolve other gaseous,<br />

liquid, or solid substances. A qualifier for the suitability as a solvent is that, during the<br />

solution, neither the solvent nor the dissolved substance undergoes chemical change, i.e.,<br />

the components <strong>of</strong> the solution may be recovered in their original form by physical separation<br />

processes, such as distillation, crystallization, sublimation, evaporation, adsorption.<br />

From a chemical point <strong>of</strong> view, solvents or volatile organic compounds, VOCs, vary<br />

widely. They are <strong>of</strong>ten classified using their boiling point, and vapor pressure. These properties<br />

do not define their suitability as solvents.<br />

In the context <strong>of</strong> VOCs, only organic solvents are <strong>of</strong> relevance. Therefore, in the following<br />

discussion, only organic solvents will be discussed.<br />

Definition <strong>of</strong> solvent according to Council Directive 1999/13/EC <strong>of</strong> 11 March 1999 1<br />

Organic solvent shall mean any VOC which is used alone or in combination with other<br />

agents, and without undergoing a chemical change, to dissolve raw materials, products or<br />

waste materials, or is used as a cleaning agent to dissolve contaminants, or as a dissolver, or<br />

as a dispersion medium, or as a viscosity adjuster, or as a surface tension adjuster, or a<br />

plasticizer, or as a preservative.<br />

Definition <strong>of</strong> solvent according to ISO/DIS 4618-4: 1999 2<br />

Paints and varnishes - terms and definition for coating materials: Solvent: A single liquid<br />

or blends <strong>of</strong> liquids, volatile under specified drying conditions, and in which the binder<br />

is completely soluble.<br />

For certain application purposes, solvents are defined more specifically:<br />

Technische Regeln für Gefahrst<strong>of</strong>fe TRGS 610 (Technical Regulations for Hazardous<br />

Substances) as applied to high solvent-containing primers and flooring glues the<br />

definition is:

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