Highly efficient VOC control system installed at particleboard manufacturing facility

Dürr Megtec has installed a CleanSwitch® regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) system for EGGER Wood Products, LLC at its new particleboard manufacturing plant in Lexington, in the USA. The special technology of the new VOC control system delivers maximum thermal efficiency with minimum maintenance.

The Lexington facility is EGGER’s first U.S. manufacturing operation and began production in September 2020. The new plant of the Austrian-based company focusses on the production of particleboard as well as on particleboard lamination. Particleboard is usable for a large number of applications and well suited for laminate bonding due to its triple-layer structure with a sturdy core layer and fine surface layers. Some of the particleboard produced in Lexington is sold in its raw form, while the majority goes on to the lamination presses to be finished and sold as thermally fused laminate (TFL) panels.

Dürr Megtec has installed a regenerative thermal oxidizer system to effectively control emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the drying process in production. The CleanSwitch® RTO has a two-chamber, single-valve design that provides VOC compliance, while delivering thermal efficiencies of up to 97 percent. “The system features a single, patented switch valve that minimizes maintenance and virtually eliminates pressure spikes associated with valve changes, which ensures better overall dryer control and energy efficiency,” said Rodney Schwartz, Vice President Sales and Business Development Americas, Dürr Megtec. “In addition, our process knowledge associated with ceramics engineering allowed us to supply a heat-recovery bed tailored to the wood products industry. This ultimately maximizes thermal efficiency and minimizes bed maintenance for improved uptime performance of manufacturing operations.” 

The new RTO system handles the off-gas from two bark-fired rotary drum dryers and has a rated design flow of 260,600 ACFM. The four-module CleanSwitch® RTO system was delivered in Q4 2019 and was commissioned in Q3 2020. Dürr Megtec manufactured the CleanSwitch® system at its facility in De Pere, Wisconsin. Dürr Megtec is part of the Clean Technology Systems division of the Dürr Group (headquartered in Germany).

EGGER’s goal is to replicate its leading market position in Europe and become the leading brand for wood-based solutions in North America. To help drive that, the Lexington plant has the capacity to produce 850 million square feet of particleboard on a 3/8-inch basis. The facility is a state-of-the-art plant for particleboard manufacturing and TFL laminations, with the best available technology. With the new plant, EGGER is able to meet the needs of North American customers at a higher level by improving access for architects, designers, wholesalers and furniture industry customers to its wide range of wood-based products and cutting-edge designs.