Catalytic Products International

Catalytic Oxidizer

What is a Catalytic Oxidizer?

A Catalytic Oxidizer is a combustion device that controls volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and odorous emissions by reacting the pollutants over a specially designed catalyst and converting the pollutants into CO2, H2O, and usable heat.

How Does a Catalytic Oxidizer Work?

• A booster fan draws VOC-laden exhaust from the process lines into the system. 
• The VOC laden exhaust is directed to our unique stainless steel primary air-to-air heat exchanger where energy is transferred to the process exhaust before passing through to the preheat burner. The main heat exchanger can eliminate the auxiliary fuel required for operation.
• A pre-heat burner is used to maintain the desired catalyst inlet temperature precisely. The burner is designed to promote mixing of the exhaust gasses with oxygen when fired through our specialized burner plenum. This innovative design provides the highest degree of flame impingement and high-velocity mixing, leading to airflow and temperature uniformity for which CPI Catalytic Oxidizers are known.
• The pre-heated exhaust stream enters the catalyst bed and reacts with any of the specially selected catalysts where an exothermic reaction occurs, leading to complete combustion of the VOCs. The oxidation of hydrocarbons (VOCs) results in harmless byproducts, water vapor, and useable heat. The catalyst-induced ionization level for most VOCs occurs at temperatures between 400 F and 750 F. This is sufficient to achieve conversion of VOC/HAP pollutants in excess of 99%.
• The cleaned exhaust is sent to the primary heat exchanger to give its heat up to the incoming exhaust gas for pre-heating purposes. After the primary heat exchanger, the cleaned exhaust is sent to the atmosphere or to auxiliary heating systems such as; secondary air to air recovery, air to water recovery, or directly back to the process in a closed-loop direct recirculation process.

Why choose a Catalytic Oxidizer?

Catalytic oxidizers are recommended for processes with low concentrations of VOCs where a TO would be impractical and an RTO would be oversized.

CATALYTIC OXIDIZER ADVANTAGES:

• Low operating costs, low energy usage
• Smaller footprint, easy installation
• Low maintenance (aside from catalyst poisoning and replacement)

CATALYTIC OXIDIZER DISADVANTAGES:

• Ease of Operation
• Higher upfront capital cost
• Prone to contamination/poisoning of catalyst
• Maximum DRE of 95%
• Limited to low or moderate VOC concentrations:
  • Cannot accommodate processes that may change their formula of VOCs (paint, coatings, etc)