New innovation to cut VOC emissions

Ehovoc Oy has launched a novel incinerator incorporating revolutionary catalytic technology that can help companies meet the new EU regulation standards for Volatile Organic Compounds, VOCs

Ehovoc Oy has launched a novel incinerator incorporating revolutionary catalytic technology that can help companies meet the new EU regulation standards for Volatile Organic Compounds, VOCs.

Called the Little Giant, the company's new design is not only smaller than competing VOC removal systems, but uses less energy, has low life cycle costs, a long operational life and low maintenance costs.

The main applications for the Little Giant are in the painting, printing, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

The Little Giant is the first VOC catalytic incinerator to be given a 10 year warranty for the catalyst and associated heat exchanger.

This reflects our confidence in our technology and the long-term performance of the incinerator.

This is based on the company's experience and theoretical analyses of the catalyst.

The catalyst used is developed for cars where temperature can reach up to 1100C and several mainly oil based poisons can reduce activity of the catalyst.

The coating is developed to resist deterioration caused by high temperature and tolerate poisons like phosphor, sulphur, calcium, zinc etc.

In these conditions only noble metals like platinum and palladium can survive without reacting with poisons.

The pore size is so small that particles cannot be diffused inside and block the way for exhaust gas to get contact with the active surface.

In VOC applications the temperature is about 300C.

This temperature does not cause any changes to the active coating even in long term use because the particles are no risk to the catalyst, there are only left gaseous poisons.

Noble metal catalysts are not sensitive to sulphur and chloride which are most common in VOC applications.

The biggest risk of contamination is created by silicon compounds.

In gaseous form these can penetrate into pores and form a thin oxide layer above the noble metals thus reducing activity.

A surprise has been that in a 13 year application we have analysed quite high silicon content but still the catalyst functions as it would in the fresh condition.

This incinerator with a capacity of 42,000 Nm3/h is running in three shifts in a paint manufacturing premises and has also faced other risk factors like chlorides and very small titanium oxide particles.

There seems to be no reason to assume that the unit should not continue operation for another 13 years.

Meeting New Emission Standards.

With the last, and most stringent phase of the EU VOC directive coming into effect in October 2007, many companies using organic solvents are faced with meeting these tough new regulations.

With Little Giant manufacturers can meet all the new emission standards with their current production processes.

The catalyst is made of thin corrugated steel strip by stacking them so that a mixer type open channel structure is formed.

This structure enhances mass transfer from bulk gas to the surface about four times compared to a straight channel structure so that 99,5% conversion rate can be achieved.

The Ehovoc incinerator offers very low operational costs.

Altogether the energy requirements, maintenance, compressed air supply etc add up to a cost of only 1 Euro per hour for an incinerator with a capacity of 4000 m3/h with VOC content of only 0.4 g/m3.

For Little Giant a new type of the regenerative heat exchanger with an improved heat transfer characteristic has been developed.

The new design is made of thin strips of corrugated steel which are making similar mixer type of structure as the catalyst.

Heat transfer efficiency is improved about four fold compared to that of a straight channel structure.

This raises the efficiency of the heat exchanger to 96% which together with low operation temperature enables a very low auto thermal point, in the best case even below 0.4 g/Nm3, which means 0,03% solvent concentration in the off gas burns, so that no extra energy is needed.

In thermal oxidation higher concentration is always needed, typically 1,3 g/Nm.

This difference can mean in a 40,000 Nm3/h incinerator Euro130,000 extra energy cost in a year.

The standard version of the Little Giant up to 18.000 Nm3/h has been designed to fit into a freight container which makes it easy to transport to customers premises.

Installation is easy and quick requiring only connections to the gas pipe line, compressed air and electricity operation.

Should the production plant layout change, all that is required is to move the container to its new position.

The bigger incinerators are supplied as modules on the construction site.

All incinerators are fully automatic in operation and adjust according to the solvent concentration to be processed.

The overall control can be by computer or alternatively managed by a GSM-phone.

Ehovoc Oy was set up in 1998 and its main business activities are in incinerators based on its innovative catalytic technology for handling VOCs.

It is certified both to ISO 9001 and ISO 140001 quality and environmental standards.

Based at Oulu in Northern Finland the company is a privately owned company with part ownership by the Finnish venture company, Teknoventure.

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