Calumet Penreco in Karns City is planning to install a refrigerated condenser to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from its white oil processing unit.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a public notice saying it intends to approve the installation, which Calumet is doing to comply with the state’s Reasonably Available Control Technologies regulations.

The VOC emissions from the unit consist of isopropyl alcohol vapors, which are currently uncontrolled and emitted directly into the atmosphere, according to the DEP.

The until can produce 61.5 tons of emissions a year when running at full capacity, but Calumet reported 38 tons were produced in 2016.

Emissions will be reduced by more than 90 percent after the condenser is put into operation, the DEP said.

“We’re going to install this refrigerated condenser. It will reduce VOC emissions from the white oil production process,” said Media Oakes, spokeswoman for Calumet Specialty Partners, the Indiana-based plant owner. “It condenses VOCs and recycles it back into process.”

The purpose of the condenser is to cool the alcohol vapor in the exhaust stream causing the vapor to condense back into a liquid so it can be recovered and reused in the production process.

“It allows us to recover and reuse those emissions instead of putting them in the air,” Oakes said.

White oil is highly refined mineral oil that is used in the production of foods, medicine and cosmetics, she said.

Calumet will hire a contractor to install the condenser early next year, she said.

The company will have to test the emissions from the new condenser to verify that it is reducing emissions, the DEP said

The state program requires companies to evaluate processing equipment that are major sources of VOCs, as well as nitrogen oxides, to determine if available technology to reduce emissions is technically feasible and cost-effective to install to meet national ambient air quality standards for ozone.

VOCs and NOx are considered to be pollutants that combine to form ozone when exposed to sunlight.