Ask the Expert Question-and-Answer Archive

by Ron Joseph

April, 2005

VOC Emissions--Paint Spray Booth/Oven Split

Q. What are booth splits and booth / oven splits? I have heard terminology about 80/20 splits, etc. How are they determined?

A. When parts go from a paint spray booth directly to an oven, such as in an automotive assembly plant painting operation, some of the VOCs are emitted in the spray booth and some in the oven. For environmental permitting reasons it is often necessary for the environmental engineer to calculate how much VOC is emitted from each point source. An 80/20 split indicates that the engineer has estimated that 80% of the VOC is emitted in the paint spray booth and 20% in the baking oven.

If you need to make that determination yourself, you would need to conduct source tests in which you apply a known, measured quantity of paint in the spray booth and then measure home much VOC is emitted from the exhaust stack of the spray booth and how much from the oven. These tests and never accurate, but at least it gives you something to work on.

Best wishes,

Ron Joseph