Lower manufacturing costs and smaller footprints
For manufacturers that need to maximize their space, some thermal oxidation systems can be a heavy burden. Depending on the needs of individual businesses, a regenerative thermal oxidizer or direct-fired thermal oxidizer may be a difficult system to integrate due to the size of units and costs of production.
In those cases, recuperative thermal oxidizers are often a better option.
Recuperative versus Regenerative
Recuperative and Regenerative options accomplish the same task, destroying HAPs and VOCs before releasing harmless water vapor and air. Both of these systems allow manufacturers across varying industries to adhere to local and federal regulations, keeping their environments and communities safe from pollutants.
Recuperative thermal oxidizers do offer some distinct advantages over regenerative options, however.
Recuperative systems use lower-cost materials in their production and are much smaller than other oxidizers, keeping capital costs down. These systems design are also simpler than RTOs, with fewer moving parts, making maintenance and repair easier, and therefore, less cost-intensive. Because the size is smaller and the systems simpler, these units are often quieter than other options, making them attractive for manufacturers that operate in cities or residential areas.
In these systems, a plate or shell-and-tube type recuperative heat exchanger is used to recover thermal energy from the oxidation process, increasing efficiency and lowering power consumption.
The downside to recuperative thermal oxidizers lies in their efficiency. Due to the size and materials used for a system of this type, thermal efficiency can often only go as high as 65 percent, which when compared to RTOs result in higher fuel costs. Recuperative units also may experience failure due to hot spots caused by poor airflow design, to particulate deposits, to corrosion/metal oxidation, or high VOC concentrations causing extreme auto-ignition heat releases in parts of the exchanger.
NESTEC Recuperative Thermal Oxidation Solutions
Despite some limitations, recuperative thermal oxidizers still may be the best fit for a manufacturer. In many cases, these units are favored by natural gas processors, chemical processors, agricultural feed producers, automotive manufacturers and coil coating manufacturers, along with numerous other types of businesses.
NESTEC evaluates the need of each company to determine which thermal oxidation solution is the best fit. The company is proud to have made and placed many successful recuperative thermal oxidizers in manufacturing facilities throughout the USA.