From Emergency to Efficiency: Rapid Media Replacement for High-Volume RTOs

THE CHALLENGE

Media replacement is a routine process needed for the maintenance and performance of oxidizer systems. Media replacement is most performed on a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) when the media becomes plugged from contamination in the process stream fed to the RTO. Anguil Environmental Systems frequently replace media in not only Anguil manufactured systems, but also in non-Anguil manufactured systems.

Unfortunately, many manufacturers do not keep up with their routine maintenance or even have a preventative maintenance plan in place. By the time they realize the media needs replacement, it is an emergent situation and results in system downtime. A compounding factor is a potentially unresponsive OEM provider.

This was just the situation a worldwide automobile supplier found themselves in with two of their systems. Dissatisfied with their OEM’s lack of response and needing immediate assistance to avoid a costly shut down, they reached out to Anguil Environmental Systems in search of a solution.

THE SOLUTION

While the Megtec CleanSwitch systems were installed at two different plant locations in the United States, they were both 65,000 SCFM (104,325 Nm³/hr) units. Anguil offered a site visit as soon as possible, which included an investigation of what the root cause was. In this situation, the Anguil representative found plugging and flame impingement to be the issues. During the visit, the original design of the media bed was mapped. With that information a new media bed was designed that would resist plugging while maintaining performance.

THE RESULT

One of the RTOs was located on a three-story roof, and a considerable distance away from the exterior wall. This posed a complication to the repair work and required more planning and materials. Instead of the normal procedure, the upper half of the RTO had to be removed, and a high lift crane was needed to accommodate the heights and distances.

The second RTO was crucial to their manufacturing process, and the company couldn’t afford to have an extended shutdown. To accommodate the requirement Anguil’s crew not only performed the work over a weekend, during normal shutdown hours, but worked double shifts so production was not affected.

Anguil completed both projects early, and under budget, due to extensive preparation and clear communication with the customer. Thanks to our exceptional performance in this emergent situation, the customer has continued to rely on Anguil for their other units and plants.