Case Study: Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer on a Particleboard Dryer, 2001 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Matthew W. Lawrence, Paul J. Vasquez--In the summer and fall of 1999, McGill AirClean Corporation conducted a test of a mobile regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) on dryers at a Georgia-Pacific particleboard plant. Our goal was to examine the feasibility of an RTO with no prefilter on what is considered a "dirty" application.

The RTO is not intended to be a particulate control device, and can experience ceramic plugging when particulate levels are too high. The combination of both a particulate filter (wet precipitator, rock filter bed, etc.) and an RTO can be prohibitive to board plants in both capital and operating costs. The implementation of an RTO-only control system on a wood dryer can save a board plant substantial dollars in capital costs, but the misapplication of this system could end up costing more in lost production and maintenance than the money that was saved by not purchasing a prefilter. The general abilities of an RTO’s particulate tolerance are examined here in several situations.

This analysis will offer some information for particleboard manufacturers to use when evaluating RTO emissions controls on their own dryer systems. When combined with other experiences from existing sites, some conclusions may be drawn about how a new RTO system should be configured.