Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major source of ‘smog’ air pollution commonly found in large major cities. One example is the metropolitan region of Houston, Texas, where multiple industries are possible sources of VOC emissions, such as coating and printing, and composting. Typical VOC content of the air in greater Houston is 20 ppmv as reported by the EPA. (EPA method 25A, C3 Organics, 60 minute average).

Recently a chemical plant near the Houston ship channel upgraded its air pollution control equipment with the installation of a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). Also known as an afterburner, this process unit holds VOC laden fumes at a sufficiently high temperature and with sufficient residence time to assure that almost all of the organic species, often above 99%, are burned off according to the simplified equation:

CH₄ + 2O₂ => 2H₂O + CO₂

Stack emissions of the RTO have since been measured as 1.8 ppmv VOC, which is far less than the ambient level of VOC in Houston.

A modern RTO is a good choice for VOC air pollution control due its high efficiency destruction of VOCs with reasonable capital costs and low operating expenses. These attributes of the RTO are due to the fact that Lantec Products introduced Multi-Layer Media^® (MLM) heat recovery media in 1996 (US Patent #6,071,593). This structured media allows for smaller vessel size, with much lower pressure drop and improved thermal efficiency vs. what was practical when random heat recovery media such as 1” ceramic saddles was the industry standard.

The table below illustrates the performance and cost advantage of an RTO when MLM heat recovery media is used instead of 1” ceramic saddles for an air flow of 35,200 scfm (55,600 Nm³/hr).

An additional benefit is that the use of MLM^® in RTOs significantly reduces stack emissions of CO₂ due to reductions in fuel and power consumption.

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Lantec Products Inc.
Laura Guerra
Phone: (781) 769-1901
Fax: (781) 769-1903
E-mail: sales@lantecp.com
Web: www.lantecp.com