DFTO & Catalytic Oxidizer Treating Emissions from Automotive Paint Line
Quick replacement of damaged thermal recuperative oxidizer after fire damage to the existing system. We kept them running with a stopgap & a final solution.
Problem
Quick replacement of damaged catalytic recuperative oxidizer. Their process flow included a mixture of acrylate, alcohols, and acetates.
Kono Kogs received a call from this customer on a Thursday looking for a rental unit to take over for their failed thermal recuperative oxidizer. A fire had damaged the heat exchanger and the system required extensive rebuilding. They requested approval to emit to atmosphere until a solution could be found, but they were not sure they would receive approval. And if they did, it would only be a limited time before they would be forced to shut down production, until they put an emission control system in place.
Photos: In Progess
Click on a picture to enlarge
Solution
Temporary Solution
We had several solutions available but time was the primary issue. The quickest solution for the short term was a direct thermal oxidizer, which could be shipped within days. We delivered, provided installation assistance and had the system operating on-line with the process on the next Sunday, 10 days after their initial call. They ran the rental unit for several weeks while considering the long-term solutions of either rebuilding the damaged oxidizer, or purchasing a replacement system.
Final Solution
We prepared a total (capital & operating) cost comparison of several options, including the rebuilding of the existing thermal recuperative oxidizer. We also reviewed their entire coating library and it turned out that all of their coatings contained no potential catalyst poisons. It was determined that a refurbished catalytic system from our current inventory would operate with no fuel usage (self-sustaining) and would be the most economical system for them. In fact, it would save over $50,000 per year in fuel usage versus the original system. And it was light weight enough to install on the mezzanine where the damaged thermal oxidizer was currently installed.
Photos: After
Click on a picture to enlarge
Equipment & Services Provided
- Solution #1: Rental unit to get production on line and in compliance
- Solution #2: Refurbished & Warranted Used Catalytic recuperative oxidizer
- Low Capital Cost: Approximately 50% of the cost for a new system
- Energy efficient (70% HX) low temp (600F) operation
- Oxidizer and flow coater optimized to run oxidizer at low to NO fuel usage
- Interfaced oxidizer with existing fan and flow control dampers.
- Excellent quality, low maintenance system
- Late model (8 year old) system w/15+ year life expectancy
- Guaranteed 97% VOC destruction; field tests showed > 98% VOC destruction
Results
Additional Airflow Capacity: Emissions were generated from a flow coater which rained paint onto plastic parts. The parts were then conveyed through an oven and a UV cure station. The main source of emissions occurred when the coating was applied. The remainder originated from the oven and UV cure areas. To improve curing time of the parts, they would like to be able to increase exhaust flow from the coater to maintain the concentration of solvents in the unmanned, enclosed coater at lower levels. The original (failed) oxidizer did not allow them to increase the exhaust rate. Their process flow included a mixture of alcohols, acrylate, and acetates.
Fast response with installation of a temporary system kept the customer’s production running. Additional fast turn-around of a final, refurbished and guaranteed replacement unit was a great relief for this automotive parts supplier. They were able to hold their product delivery dates with some work-arounds internally, and Kono Kogs provided the support and equipment necessary for them to remain in compliance short term and long term, with increased oxidizer capacity and significantly lower operating costs as a bonus.
Within 2 years they will recover the capital expense for the oxidizer and installation services. In addition, the catalytic unit provides twice the capacity of the previous system, which allowed our customer to do something they had hoped to do for some time… increase process exhaust to improve the performance of the flow coater.
