Evaluation of an adsorption system to concentrate VOC in air streams prior to catalytic incineration.
Catalytic combustion is a well-developed process for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In order to reduce both the amount of catalyst needed for incineration and the surface area of recuperative heat exchangers, an evaluation of the use of thermal swing adsorption as a previous step for VOC concentration is made. An air stream containing ethyl acetate and ethanol (employed as solvents in printing processes) has been taken as a case study. Based on the characteristics of the adsorption/desorption system and the properties of the stream to be treated, a monolithic rotor concentrator with activated carbon as adsorbent material is adopted. Once the temperature of the inlet desorption stream TD is chosen, the minimum possible desorption flow rate, WD,min, and the amount of adsorbent material can be properly defined according to the extent of the Mass Transfer Zone (MTZ) at the end of the adsorption stage. An approximate procedure to speed up the calculations needed for sizing the bed and predicting the operating variables is also presented. In the case studied here, the concentration of the VOC stream can reach 6 times that of the primary effluent when TD = 200 °C is chosen.
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) 1 y 47, CP 1900 La Plata, Argentina; CINDECA, CCT La Plata (CONICET-UNLP), Calle 47 Nº 257, CP B1900AJK La Plata, Argentina.
María A
MA
Campesi
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) 1 y 47, CP 1900 La Plata, Argentina; CINDECA, CCT La Plata (CONICET-UNLP), Calle 47 Nº 257, CP B1900AJK La Plata, Argentina.
Carlos D
CD
Luzi
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) 1 y 47, CP 1900 La Plata, Argentina; CINDECA, CCT La Plata (CONICET-UNLP), Calle 47 Nº 257, CP B1900AJK La Plata, Argentina.
Guillermo F
GF
Barreto
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) 1 y 47, CP 1900 La Plata, Argentina; CINDECA, CCT La Plata (CONICET-UNLP), Calle 47 Nº 257, CP B1900AJK La Plata, Argentina. Electronic address: osvaldommartinez@gmail.com.
Osvaldo M
OM
Martínez
D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry; D000327:Adsorption; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D017745:Incineration; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
D000085:Acetates; D000393:Air Pollutants; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D000431:Ethanol; D002244:Carbon; C007650:ethyl acetate
Activated carbon; Catalytic incineration; Rotor concentrator; Thermal swing adsorption; VOC concentration