Turnkey VOC Control for High-Volume Paint Spray Operations

THE CHALLENGE

A major automotive component supplier needed to control the emissions from its paint spray process. The plant emissions had characteristics common to many paint spray plants: high air flow, low volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration and particulate. The company needed an emission control solution that had low operating costs and that could also fit in their limited space. System reliability was also a major design consideration; since the company is a synchronized delivery partner to the automobile industry, plant downtime or process delays result in expensive fines.

THE SOLUTION

After an extensive technical evaluation of the proposed technologies and equipment manufacturers, the customer chose Anguil Environmental Systems to provide a turnkey solution for the VOC and particulate emissions. Anguil recommended an Emissions Concentrator coupled with a Thermal Oxidizer System to effectively process the 120,000 SCFM (190,000 Nm3/hr) of plant exhaust.

THE RESULT

The cost of an emission control system is driven largely by the volume of air that must be treated, making paint spray operations expensive due to their high process exhaust requirements and relatively low VOC concentration. Anguil’s Emission Concentrator addresses this by reducing the air volume sent to the oxidizer by a factor of 15. In this application, the 120,000 SCFM paint booth airstream is absorbed by the Zeolite Concentrator Wheel. The VOCs are then desorbed in a separate 8,000 SCFM stream with elevated VOC levels ~4500 ppmv which is sent to a Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO). This dramatic decrease in exhaust flow reduces the size of the oxidizer needed as well as decreases the operating cost.

Anguil custom engineered this technology based on the key requirements. Reliability was critical for this Tier One automotive supplier, where downtime can result in fines up to $30,000 a minute; Anguil incorporated advanced Programmable Logic Controls (PLC), built-in safety features, and seamless integration into the existing process. Tight space constraints and local noise limits drove the development of a vertical system design that reduced the footprint by 70% compared to competing RTO vendors and the inclusion of sound-attenuation features to meet local requirements. To manage heavy paint particulates often found in paint spray applications, Anguil included a high-efficiency filtration system with simple low-cost filter replacements.

Anguil provided a full turnkey installation of the system that meets the facility’s space and noise limitations, exceeds regulatory requirements, and provides long-term cost savings through the highly efficient air volume reduction approach.