THERMAL EXHAUST GAS CLEANING

In order to save energy costs, Harbauer relies on the use of regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) for thermal exhaust gas cleaning. With this technology, higher thermal efficiencies of up to more than 97% can be achieved by using ceramic heat storage media in contrast to conventional thermal afterburning systems.

The basic principle of regenerative thermal oxidation is based on the use of several combined reactor / heat storage beds. In this case, the contaminated air is first heated to the required reaction temperature by a gas burner. The pollutants are then thermally converted into carbon dioxide and water in one of the reactor / heat storage beds. Ceramic honeycomb bodies are generally used as reactor / heat storage beds. The waste heat of the reactor is then passed with the exhaust air (= clean air) through a second bed and the heat is stored there. After the heating of this storage bed, the process air supply is switched over. The raw air now passes through the heated reactor / heat bed, warms up and the pollutants are then oxidized in the first bed. In the further mode of operation, cyclical switching between these states is carried out.

In this way, an autothermal operating state can be achieved in this method even at very low pollutant concentrations in the exhaust air (i.e. the system heats itself by the exothermic energy released during the oxidation of the pollutants and does not require any further additional heating by primary energy).