VOC emissions from automotive painting and their control: A review

During automotive painting, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with the paint solvents are emitted to the atmosphere. Most VOC emissions come from spraying operations via the use of solvent-based paints, as the spraybooth air picks up gaseous solvent compounds and overspray paint materials. The VOCs consist of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, ketones, esters, alcohols, and glycolethers. Most VOCs (some hydrophilic VOCs are captured and retained in the water.) are captured by an adsorption system and thermally oxidized. In this paper, the processes involved in automotive painting and in VOC control are reviewed. The topics include: painting operations (briefly), the nature of VOCs, VOC-control processes (adsorption, absorption, biological removal, and thermal oxidation) and energy recovery from VOCs using a fuel reformer and a fuel cell, and the beneficial use of paint sludge. © The Korean Society of Environmental Engineers.