Air pollution regulations drive deployment of flexible abatement solutions

To address the growing complexity of air pollution regulations, which have to address a multi-tiered array of local authority, national and international requirements, AirProtekt (UK) is offering a total package air pollution service that embraces process assessment, project design, supply of the air pollution equipment, installation and commissioning.

Many air pollution applications call for highly flexible abatement systems to be designed and deployed especially where there is a requirement for batch based production runs. Low running costs together with the ability to run the abatement at low process flowrates are vital. A quick start up system also offers major benefits.

AirProtekt’s flexible, total package approach to providing engineering solutions means that the company is capable of combining and tailoring modular equipment to meet exacting air pollution requirements in the most cost-effective way.

For the majority of abatement applications catalytic oxidation is more expensive than
thermal oxidation at low flow rates. However, the reverse is often the case for high flow rates. Thermal oxidation abatement solutions tend to be more economical at very high VOC concentrations whereas catalytic oxidation is typically more economical at moderate VOC concentrations.

AirProtekt recognises that no two applications are the same and each one requires careful assessment before a value for money solution can be implemented. For example, although an alternative solution to a catalytic oxidation could be the use of a thermal oxidation system this may result in high running costs because natural gas would have to be bought into the factory area.

A thermal oxidation approach in certain cases can prove inflexible because if production demand dropped to low levels the abatement plant still would need to be kept running which is often less economic. A reliable Honeycat Air Pollution Control System offers a catalytic oxidation solution that provides an expected availability of more than 99 percent and can be equipped with a superior performance catalyst to ensure environmental emission limits can be easily handled.

AirProtekt’s engineering solutions are tailored to address specific local emission requirements but are also specified to comply with national and international regulations as well as detailed global company-specific guidelines or operational procedures.

“One of the most cost-effective Honeycat Air Pollution Control System solutions we offer features a compact skid mounted oxidiser designed to minimise on-site installation times, which makes the unit ideal for batch production runs,” explained Trevor Lawton, AirProtekt’s managing director. “Our engineering team often specifies an electrically pre-heated abatement system to provide processors with a very low maintenance solution. We also aim to offer systems that operate very quietly to ensure that any nearby residential properties are not disturbed by 24-hour operations”.

The industrial air pollution control catalysts favoured by Air Protekt comprise thin-walled honeycomb supports coated with a fine dispersion of Platinum Group Metals, impregnated into a high surface area washcoat. The catalysts, which form the heart of AirProtekt’s catalytic oxidation system, are derived from well-proven autocatalyst technology and offer numerous benefits. These include a long effective life of
typically five to seven years as well as the ability to withstand high temperatures and temperature cycling (maximum 650°C continuous and peaks to 725°C).