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Thermal Oxidizers
For VOC elimination, thermal oxidizer systems can attain over 99% destruction efficiency. Your VOC characteristics and the balance between capital investment and operating costs will determine the system that best fits your needs – simple afterburner, recuperative, regenerative, or catalytic:
After Burner - The typical after burner consists of a burner, a burner train, a combustion blower and a process fan. This low-cost option is used for very high VOC concentration where only a small amount of fuel is needed to maintain combustion. Because heat recovery is not used, these systems tend to be more expensive to operate.
Recuperative - In a recuperative unit, the basic operation of the afterburner is retained except that much of the waste heat is captured in a heat exchanger to preheat the incoming air, increasing thermal efficiency.
Regenerative - A regenerative system provides extremely high thermal efficiency. These systems achieves up to 95% heat recovery by employing two ceramic heat recovery beds, switching between them such that the incoming air is preheated by one while the exhaust gas is "regenerating" the other.
Catalytic - Catalytic oxidation systems rely on a bed of catalyst to oxidize low VOC concentrations at about half the temperature of other thermal oxidizers. They are expensive, but have very low operating cost.
The "Right Fit" - Finding the system that best fits your individual application needs will depend on:
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Level of control required
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Pollutants to be removed
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Concentration of pollutants in the air stream
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Total volume/flow of the air stream
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Operating costs
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First costs of equipment
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