The solvent processing industry, e.g. the printing industry, dry cleaning shops, and paint shops, rely on solvents that are vaporized during the production process. The recovery of these solvents from the exhaust air cycle is beneficial from both economic and ecological aspects. The basic theory of the solvent recovery cycle is solvent adsorption on activated carbon and their subsequent desorption by means of superheated steam or hot inert gas. In the manufacturing cycle the resulting condensate is further processed to recover the solvent for reuse. The method of solvent recovery is based on high-quality, activated carbon grades with a well-balanced pore structure. While the micro-pores are crucial to solvent retention and thus compliance with the defined VOC emission limits, the macro- and meso-pore access pores allow solvent desorption from the activated carbon.

Revel selected granular activated carbons (GAC) which adsorb the vapor until it is saturated and breakthrough. The vapor stream is then transferred to a second adsorber, while at first the solvent is recovered by desorption with pressure vapor.