Refurbish & Upgrade an Existing RTO or WESP

The RTO (regenerative thermal oxidizer) was developed in the 1970s and has become the most efficient oxidizer available for a wide range of applications. Many of the original RTO/RCOs are idle, shut down, or are available with potential refurbishment and upgrade to provide an economical solution for existing applications. 

NESTEC has employed a multitude of engineers and service technicians from REECO, HES, Smith, GEO, Megtec, PEI, Salem, LDX, and other manufacturers with over four hundred plus (400+) combined years of RTO/RCO experience.  NESTEC’s in-depth knowledge of existing RTOs provides the institutional knowledge that makes new and increased performance features for antiquated units not just possible, but effective and economical.

For example, in the wood industry, RTOs first installed in the 1990s have experienced many problems which require repair and/or upgrading to keep them functional and economically viable for continued use. 

Original wood industry RTO problems:

Problems with heat exchange media degradation and fusion.

Cold face media supports failures due to thermal expansion, bake outs, and stress corrosion.

Process exhaust condensable PM buildup issues.

Installation of a new RTO/RCO or replacement of an existing RTO is often the first consideration, however, refurbishment can be a much more economical solution.

NESTEC offers a free evaluation and recommendation for upgrading your RTO system as well as upgrades for existing WESP (wet electrostatic precipitators) and provides ongoing service, no matter who the original manufacturer.

In addition to NESTEC’s in-depth RTO/RCO and WESP experience, key staff employees have over 400 years of combined involvement with direct RTO/RCO and oxidizer studies, design, fabrication, installation, and service in VOC (volatile organic compound) control and energy conservation applications since the 1970s. We also offer a simple, rugged, reliable MCC RTO/RCO that includes the best and most economical design features for wood and other applications.

Several MCC RTO/RCO and WESP features have been installed that offer proven and reliable performance along with reduced fuel costs on both new and existing RTO units.

Additional fuel energy savings with Thermal Alignment Programing Design

1. Combustion air on ratio control
2. Valve cycle timing control
3. Simple, rugged, reliable poppet valves with: 

• • Minimum leakage for 99+% destruction removal efficiency (DRE) capability
  • Simple replacement of troublesome rotary valves

4. Forced draft fans, which reduces the energy consumption
5. Virtually zero pressure fluctuation due to the RTO/RC
6. Hotter inlet valve surfaces to minimize/eliminate condensable build up on the valve
7. Heat exchange media external beam support with thermal expansion design compensation and uniform air flow distribution
8. 96% thermal energy recovery (TER) design – a 20% reduction in fuel over a 95% (TER) design
9. RCO Catalyst operation
10. Modular designs to minimize shipping and installation costs
11. WESP conversion from down flow to up flow

• • Uniform flow in round collecting tube maximizes the PM removal
  • Isolated flushing minimizes and/or eliminates caustic carry over to downstream equipment
  • Tube cooling maximizes internal wetted surfaces to flush PM away and keep tube walls cleaner
  • Our electrode support hardware simplifies maintenance and electrode adjustment with its one bolt design

Fine tuning the RTO with one or several NESTEC features can reduce fuel consumption by 8% to 40%. On a large Wood application, this can amount up to $200,000 per year in energy savings, even at today’s Natural Gas costs.

NESTEC, Inc. provides a single point of responsibility and service/training for all makes of oxidizer systems, with 24/7 response and cellular online router service. The service can also be provided via outbound connection with a UDP or HTTPS to a cloud-based VPN server to provide immediate connection to the oxidizer control panel and remote service assistance and diagnostic support. Network segregation ensures that the remote user can only reach the devices connected to the oxidizer side (LAN side) of the remote connection. Devices on the rest of the network cannot be accessed.

Call for your simple financial payback analysis for optimizing, upgrading, and/or refurbishing an existing RTO/RCO unit. If the refurbishment is not viable, NESTEC Inc. can offer a new simple, rugged, reliable oxidizer system designed for the specific application based on years of intellectual experience to ensure the best and most economical solution.

For assistance from our experience, call or email NESTEC Inc. (Office: 610-323-7670) and ask for a free evaluation of your VOC control equipment needs.