With over 300+ combined years of staff experience designing, manufacturing, installing, and servicing regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) and other air emission control equipment, NESTEC has a proven and extensive track record of providing superior air emission control solutions to an extremely wide range of industries.
After years of rebuilding and servicing all makes of RTOs and oxidizers, and thanks to the hard won knowledge gained from hundreds of inspections and detailed studies, NESTEC has engineered a multitude of enhanced features that can be custom fit to the needs of any make or style of oxidizer.
One unique feature we offer is the ability to expand an existing RTO’s flow capacity and/or reduce its energy consumption. The first regenerative thermal oxidizers (and many since then) utilized random ceramic heat
exchange media to achieve a desired thermal energy recovery (TER) efficiency. The random heat exchange media was primarily one (1) inch saddles, flexisaddle, intalock, or similar designs, for example:
The design of the RTO heat exchange media bed requires consideration of key components to achieve the best and most economical solution, for example:
Uniform mass flow is often first the consideration because it is essential to achieving optimal performance. Non-uniform flow through the heat exchange media can be attributed to several factors:
- The design and configuration of the cold face entry chamber and media support — NESTEC has developed a unique media support and inlet flow distribution nozzle system to maximum uniform flow into the media.
- The geometry and associated size dimensions of the heat recovery chamber — a large heat recovery media chamber (>31’ x 11.5’) can result in poor flow distribution without special added features.
- The length of the valve cycle time for both the pre-heat and recovery cycle — NESTEC has develop an Auto-Thermal Alignment Control to maximize the thermal energy recovery (TER).
- Process Mass Flow (sFPM / ft2) design thought the heat exchange chamber — higher mass flow designs permit smaller chambers and lower associated costs. However, the pressure drop will increase and thermal energy recovery (TER) will reduce, thus increasing the total operating cost which last for the life of the system.
Since the original RTO design, structured media development has substantially reduced the size and operating costs of newer RTOs. The proper selection and combination of media can also allow for increased capacity with existing RTO units.
As can be seen from the following comparison of media and performance, there is a substantial difference in the performance, size, and weight.
| 100,000 dSCFM Flow | Structured | Random | Structured |
| Thermal Eff (%) balanced mass flow | 95.4% | 95.1% | 96.2% |
| Bed sized (~sq ft) Same size RTO | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Depth (ft) | 4 | 8.5 | 5 |
| Volume (cu ft ) | 2200 (53% less) | 4675 | 2800 |
| Total mass – Weight (lbs) | 116,900 ~ (40% lighter) | 187,000 (59% heavier) | 148,800 (~ 20% lighter) |
| Total Surface area (sq ft) | 876,600 (250% greater) | 350,600 | 1,115,600 |
| Media Required HP | 112 (56% less HP) | 256 (120% more) | 142 (45% less) |
Need More Capacity from Your Existing RTO? Contact NESTEC for a free evaluation of your equipment and find out how much more flow it can handle.
For additional details from NESTEC’s extensive experience, call or e-mail NESTEC Inc. for a free evaluation of your RTO/RCO’s flow capabilities.
Office: 610.323.7670
Jim Nester, CEO: jnester@nestecinc.com
Rick Reimlinger, Vice President: rick.reimlinger@nestecinc.com
Rodney L. Pennington, PE, Vice President of Key Accounts: rpennington@nestecinc.com
William Holden, Aftermarket & Services Manager: wholden@nestecinc.com
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