Sonic's Hot Air Knife System Safely Contained Mercury Vapor

Overview

Disposing of used LCD screens and electronic devices poses challenges due to environmental concerns, with landfills already prohibiting their disposal due to groundwater and soil contamination. With the increasing demand for precious metals and minerals, companies can now look into recycling discarded electronic devices as financially viable. And Sonic Air Systems was tasked to provide a solution to safely contain the mercury vapors and other pollutants during the shredding process of electronic devices.

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Solution

After removing any batteries within the electronic devices, Sonic Air Systems provided a custom-engineered solution using their patented Industrial Hot Air Blower and Air Knife System. The system delivered a constant 275°F (135°C) air stream into the shredder enclosure, ensuring all mercury vapor and other airborne pollutants could be captured by the customer's multi-stage HEPA filtration pollution control system.

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Result

By utilizing Sonic's heater-less hot air technology, which operated at a 50% total operational energy savings, the customer achieved intrinsically safe heating and efficient containment of mercury vapor. The Hot Air Knife System proved to be a successful solution for Electronic Recyclers International, the largest electronic recycling company in the United States.