Site visit
COVEX
CONSEJERIA DE MEDIO AMBIENTE, VIVIENDA
Y ORDENACIÓN DEL TERRITORIO
Comunidad de Madrid
Site visit
Visit to COVEX, S.A
Site visit
Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
General Data
• Location:
Industrial facility “South”, Colmenar Viejo
• Historical land use:
Crops and meadows. Agricultural use.
• Beginning of activity (year): 1979
• Main activity:
Manufacturing of pharmaceuticals
• Employees:
50
• Work shifts:
3 shifts/day, 8 hours
• IPPC Directive item:
4.5. “Installations using a chemical or biological
process for the production of basic
pharmaceutical products.”
Slide 1
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
Industrial process
• Raw materials:
Vegetal raw materials
Solvents (ethyl acetate, heptanes, methanol, ethanol,
chloroform, …)
Reactants (formic acid, ammonia hydroxide, sulphuric
acid, acetic acid, HCl, …)
• Process:
Purification, synthesis and etherification.
• Final products:
Vincamine, Vinpocetin, Vinburnine y vegetal extracts.
Slide 2
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
Installation’s general features
• Area:
6.000 m2
• Water source:
Public network
• Fuel:
C Gas-oil
• Combustion plants:
3 vapor generators
• Emission sources into the air:
13
• Emission sources into sewer system:
1
• IOWWTP:
Physic-chemical
• Hazardous Waste generation:
435 t/year
• Non-hazardous Waste:
15 t/year
Slide 3
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
IPPC Permit
• Issuing date:
6 March 2008 (Amended on 29
September 2009)
• Permit monitoring:

Every 3 months:
Waste water sampling

Every year
Air emissions measurement
Waste generation declaration
Solvent Management Plan
Reporting on resource and raw material use

When revising IPPC permit: Soil situation report
Slide 4
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COVEX, S.A.
Implemented BAT
• Environmental, safety and health aspects to be integrated within the process:
 Replace substances by less-dangerous ones.
• Process safety and prevention of non-controlled reactions:
 Assess safety under normal operating conditions and take into
account those deviations due to chemical variation and operation
conditions.
 Apply procedures and measures to limit the risk associated to
hazardous substances use and handling.
 Provide staff with appropriate training to handle hazardous
substances.
Slide 5
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
• Plant design:
 Install laminar flow pumps in reactors starting point
 Closure of PQIII reactor building.
 Condensation equipment in all production units.
• Soil and groundwater protection:
 Design, build and maintain installation (sealed, stable and resilient
against mechanical thermal and chemical)in order to minimize spills
 Implement in situ leak detectors.
 Install leak and spill retention containers for further treatment and
disposal.
Slide 6
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
Implemented BAT
• VOC reduction:
 Contain and seal any source to minimize diffuse and non-controlled
emissions.
 Dry by using close-circuits and include condensation equipments to
recover solvents.
 Maintain closed any equipment when proceeding with the cleaning of
solvent containers.
 Recirculation of process vapors when concentration requirements
allow.
Slide 7
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COVEX, S.A.
Implemented BAT
• Reduce waste gas flows:
 Ensure that equipments are hermetic, specially reactors.
 Minimize waste gas flows in distillation, optimizing condensation
design.
 Apply liquid feeding at the bottom of the reactor, unless a chemical
reaction advices against, to reduce COT values in waste gas.
 Minimize peak loads by optimizing production patterns and ad hoc
filters.
Slide 8
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
Implemented BAT
• Minimize volumes and waste water pollution charge:
 Avoid discharges of main solution with high salt content or applied
separation techniques: process membranes, reactants extraction,
solvent-based processes.
• Mass balance and waste water sampling:
 Establish mass balances for VOC, TOC, COD, AOX and metals to
better understand processes and implement improvements.
 Undertake a detailed analysis of the waste water stream in order to
identify origins and prepare basic data to handle and treat waste gas
emissions, waste water and solid wastes.
Slide 9
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Vist to COVEX, S.A
COVEX, S.A.
Implemented BAT
• Solvent recovery:
 Recover solvents when used in high quantities.
• Waste gas treatment:
 Condensation equipments for reactors.
• Waste water treatment:
 Recover solvents from waste water by distilling.
 Treat high-COT effluents by appropriate biological treatment
Slide 10
CONSEJERIA DE MEDIO AMBIENTE, VIVIENDA
Y ORDENACIÓN DEL TERRITORIO
Comunidad de Madrid