Pacific Rim - AIR INDUSTRIES - GARDEN GROVE, CA

PROBLEM:

This firm is a manufacturer of aircraft fasteners. The client is commended for voluntarily electing to improve air quality in the plating portion of the fabrication process.

When we became involved Air Industries had already obtained a Permit to Construct for their new air quality equipment from the local regulatory agency (SCAQMD).

Unfortunately the client did not have adequate assistance and the agency included constraints in the permit that were cost prohibitive for the client to meet.

SOLUTION:

Pacific Rim was asked to amend the Permit to Construct limitation and then continue through the steps necessary to obtain the Permit to Operate certification. We successfully amended the Permit to Construct, eliminating the excessive regulatory constraint for particulate before we performed the formal performance testing.

In the end everybody won - the air quality is better due to the voluntarily installed equipment, and Air Industries has the ability to operate the equipment within realistic performance parameters.

The above photo shows the plating lines where aircraft fasteners are coated to meet exacting specifications. Note the fume hoods over most tanks. These transfer the toxic and acidic gases formed during plating to the scrubber on the roof.

This is the 50,000 CFM horizontal wet scrubber that provides single stage treatment for the hazardous air stream. A single stage scrubber is applicable in this application because we are addressing inorganic compounds with high solubility in water If there had been a wide range of target compounds, then a second stage or other processes would have been necessary.