In March of 1999, ScrubAir was contacted by Alloys Cleaning, Inc. (a chem-milling company in Los Angeles, California) to provide a quotation for the design, manufacture, and installation of a NOx scrubbing system on their new titanium milling process tanks.  Their process uses nitric and hydroflouric acids which produce very high concentrations of NOx during processing.

Tom O'Connor traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles to meet with Larry Barnhard (owner of Alloys Cleaning) and designed a system to meet the many California restrictions put on this type of industry.

After the State of California approved the system design for compliance to earthquake resistance, wind shear resistance, and numerous environmental requirements, the system was manufactured and installed by ScrubAir.  Installation was completed in just three days.

ScrubAir also developed a cooling system to control the process solution temperature.  The chemical reaction that occurs in the process tanks can cause the process solution temperature to increase rapidly and exceed allowable processing temperatures.  The process solution temperature is effectively controlled within the required operating limits through the use of a re-circulating spray system combined with the exhaust air in the ventilation hoods.

Additionally, since California requires the air in the process area to be exchanged a minimum of once every hour while the process is not in use, a two-blower system was developed to minimize operating cost while meeting State of California requirements.  California requirements also called for one of the blowers to be connected to an emergency generator to assure ventilation of the process area even in the event of a power failure.

The 22,000 CFM NOx system includes spill containment and a multi-functional control panel with alarms, controls, and monitors for: tank temperature and solution level, automatic scrubber solution pH and ORP control, re-circulation flow rate, and blower and pump operation.

Installed in October of 1999, the system has the proven capability to remove all concentrations of NOx fumes generated by Alloys Cleaning's processes and meet the air pollution control requirements of the State of California.  But installing an effective system is not the only thing that is important to ScrubAir.  ScrubAir demonstrates its desire for complete customer satisfaction by continuing to work with Alloys Cleaning to "tweak" their system to meet their unique operating requirements and to minimize their operating costs.