Wilson, NC
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Design, fabrication, and installation of a 6,050-SCFM RTO with thermal quench tower and caustic scrubber on fluidized bed dryer exhausts from a batch-process pill manufacturing line.
The new equipment NESTEC designed and installed for this pharmaceutical plant replaced another manufacturer’s existing catalytic oxidizer/scrubber, which was not performing adequately. In engineering the new solution, NESTEC combined two air pollution control technologies to reduce emissions most efficiently.
First, an outlet thermal bypass takes a slipstream of 1,500°F gas from the combustion chamber and mixes it with the oxidizer inlet gas. When the RTO exhaust gases leave the oxidizer and reach the quench tower, acid is formed by the combination of moisture and temperature drop caused by evaporative cooling. Consequently, the materials of construction are changed to resist this acid.
After the quench tower, the gases enter a wet scrubber made of acid-resistant fiber reinforced plastic (FRP). The pH-neutralized liquid in the scrubber is continuously blown down to sewer in order to avoid the build-up of solids.
All piping and controls were designed and supplied by NESTEC. The integrated system can handle exhausts from two to four dryers, and the dryers can handle both solvent-based and water-based products.
This project demonstrated NESTEC’s ability to integrate two air pollution control technologies into a custom designed system that satisfied the customer’s requirements. Our in-house engineers have the expertise to address virtually any air pollution control problem and develop cost effective, state-of-the art solutions, whether they are VOC and HAPs control, acid gas control, or particulate control.