What is a rotor concentrator?
A rotor concentrator is a type of pollution control equipment that takes large volume streams with low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) concentrations, and converts it into a highly concentrated low flow stream. The stream, now thickly laden with VOCs, is then pushed through an oxidizer to be destroyed. Because the volume of the exhaust stream is so much lower, a smaller oxidizer with a smaller footprint can now be used. This is an ideal method of abatement for processes faced with smaller space constraints.
How does a rotor concentrator work?
A Rotor wheel is a temperature swing adsorption device designed to continuously remove VOCs from a low concentration, high volume air stream by adsorbing the VOCs onto a hydrophobic Zeolite media. After the VOCs have been collected, they are then released from the Rotor by a heated low volume air stream to be treated by the thermal oxidizer. By concentrating the VOCs into the low volume air stream, considerable energy savings, both electric and fuel gas, are achieved.
The Rotor cassettes wheels are mounted on a shaft with bearings and are rotated slowly in the air stream. As the Rotor turns, it passes through sealed sections, used for adsorption, desorption, and cooling.
Concentrator Heat Exchange:
The VOC-laden exhaust stream is drawn from the supply ductwork and pushed into the Rotor housing by the main process fan. As the exhaust stream enters the Rotor housing, it slowly passes through the Rotor media and the VOC molecules that are contained in the air stream are adsorbed (collected) by the Zeolite material. As the Rotor continuously turns a small volume of cooling air passes through another portion of the Rotor to pre-heat and subsequently blend with a slip stream from the thermal oxidizer to reach the desorption temperature. This heated volume passes through a 3rd ‘pie-cut’ of the Rotor in the opposite direction of the process air flow and the collected VOCs are removed from the Zeolite material. The hot air causes the Zeolite pore structure to release the VOC molecules from the media while concentrating the VOCs in the air stream. The concentrated air stream then exits the rotor with the VOCs and is directed to the Thermal Oxidizer system for destruction.
Rotor Concentrator Advantages:
- Custom built, turnkey systems
- Easy to retrofit – Most retrofit packages see a financial return between 1 and 2 years through reduced operating costs.
- Allows for a smaller oxidizer, with a lower CAPEX
- Smaller footprint
- Design engineering, manufacturing, assembly, and testing all done in-house, at our Texas manufacturing facility.
- Converts large volume flow into a lower volume
- Our In-house produced control panels sets GCES apart!
- UL Rated
- Remote access for monitoring and controls
- Remote service support
Options:
- Several Zeolite media options available to prevent polymerization
- Several oxidizer options available to treat concentrated stream, including Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO), Thermal Recuperative Oxidizers (TRO), Catalytic Oxidizers (CO), and Vapor Combustor Units (VCU).
- Ducting available
- Forced and Induced fans available
- Multiple heat sources available for desorption process
- Primary and secondary heat recovery options
- Modular design and skid mounting available
Gulf Coast Environmental Systems has extensive experience designing solutions that implement the use of rotor concentrator technology. Our unique approach is to analyze your process stream and business objectives from which we propose an ideal solution or range of options to help achieve and optimize those objectives. If you have questions about incorporating a rotor concentrator into an existing system, or need an entirely new solution, email GCES at sales@gcesystems.com.