Prescribing Safe Solutions: Handling Waste Solvents Safely

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Specifically, Roche has four underground tanks where used solvents are kept. Their capacities range from 60 to 100 m³ (15,800 to 26,400 gallons). The tanks are monitored and controlled from a computer station that gives the operator a complete set of real-time information.

How to Dispose Hazardous Chemicals Safely

“We can look at all of the underground waste solvent tanks, and the system shows us all of the warnings, from the level of the tanks or when we have to order a tank truck for disposal,” says Habeck. “When a tank needs to be emptied, the tank truck uses a hose for the disposal of the waste solvent. The potentially dangerous part is when we hook the hose onto the truck and begin pumping the waste solvent.”

Air-Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps (AODD)

How Energy-Saving AODD Pumps Help to Keep Products Flowing

Indeed, many of the solvents that Roche uses in its production process are classified as hazardous chemicals. Flammable solvents, in particular, must be handled as set out by the Atex requirements of European Union Directive 94/9/EG regarding the use and disposal of potentially explosive liquids.

AODD Pumps: A Safe Solution

The unique characteristics of Roche’s solvent-handling operation — high-volume transfer of potentially dangerous chemicals — requires a pump that can perform the task reliably, efficiently and safely, from the point of view of both site personnel and the environment.

Since the late 1980s, Roche has relied on plastic air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps from Almatec, Kamp-Lintfort, Germany, to transfer solvents in the safest and most efficient manner possible. Almatec is part of PSG, a company in the US Dover Group, that is based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA.

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