in the manufacturing process are members
of a group of compounds called VOCs,
or volatile organic compounds.
When VOCs are exposed to sunlight,
they can form ozone or smog.
In order to reduce the impact
that our manufacturing operation
has on the environment, we use abatement systems.
The VOC abatement systems are designed
to collect and destroy VOCs before they reach
the atmosphere from our factory exhaust.
These large machines are designed
with energy conservation in mind,
as well as high efficiency and VOC destruction.
The system first takes in VOC-laden air
from the factory and sends it through
a particle filter designed to remove
any large dust particles.
This helps keep the absorption system
clean downstream.
Now the air moves through a very important component,
a concentrator rotor.
This large rotor, which is more than six feet tall,
and very thick and heavy, contains a silicon mineral
called zeolite, shaped into something
that looks a lot like corrugated cardboard on end.
The air flows through this rotor,
where the VOCs stick to the zeolite molecules
and the cleaned air continues on out the exhaust vents
and the exhaust stack.
That is how the air gets cleaned.
But what happened to the VOCs?
That requires a little more explanation.
The VOCs will stick to the zeolite rotor
as long as it is relatively cool.
But if we can get the zeolite hot,
the VOCs will be forced to let go.
The abatement system sends a separate
hot air stream greater than 350 degrees Fahrenheit
through the zeolite backwards,
which picks up the VOCs and takes them
to an oxidizer to be destroyed.
A natural gas burner raises this VOC-laden air stream
to more than 1350 degrees Fahrenheit,
which converts the VOCs into carbon dioxide
and water vapor.
Once burned, this air stream exits to the atmosphere
through a separate exhaust stack
just for the oxidizer.
Now this system would burn a lot of natural gas
if it weren't for some key energy-saving features.
The use of a rotary zeolite wheel
concentrates the VOCs into a very small air volume,
which requires 10 times less energy to destroy.
In fact, the VOCs themselves help fuel
the combustion inside.
After the burner, you can see the flow through
the oxidizer system is very complicated,
but it allows it to use two or more
heat exchangers within the machine
to recover waste heat from the hot burner exhaust
that would normally be sent outside and wasted.
It recovers this heat back into the abatement process
and greatly minimizes the amount of natural gas needed
to destroy the VOCs.
(upbeat music)