Pharmaceutical Manufacture Meets MACT Standards with Customized Air Pollution Control System

Quadrant NRV Thermal Oxidizer

Faced with meeting the needs of their Pharma Industry MACT Standards, one Fortune 50 Pharmaceutical Manufacture called on Catalytic Products International, Inc. The application required venting over 30 different reactors, batch processes, storage tanks, and other sources of VOC emissions to a single control device. The challenge for Catalytic Products International was to design a system that was able to process the ultra-high LEL (high concentration of VOC’s) and deal with corrosive acids produced in the process off gas and the post-combustion gases. The client company has several sources that use hydrochloric acid and other like corrosive compounds in their manufacturing process. These acids are mixed with VOC’s and HAP’s. Since it is not economical to separate the acids from the off gas prior to venting to the control device, it was decided to design a unit that can tolerate the corrosive nature of the off gas. Adding to the challenge, are many more sources that use halogenated VOC’s in the process. A halogenated VOC is an organic hydro-carbon that contains chlorine (Cl) In the combustion process a normal organic hydro-carbon will be converted to:

H_xC_x + O₂   –»  H₂O + CO₂

The conversion of halogenated elements is changed to:

H_xC_xC1 + O₂  –»  H₂O + CO₂ + HC1

The post combustion gases now contain some amount of Hydrochloric Acid. In order to meet the needs of local regulations and the industry MACT, the HCl also has to be removed from the exhaust stream prior to atmospheric release.

Catalytic Products International, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacture of custom air pollution control equipment. Recognizing that high BTU vent streams present require a specialized approach in order to operate safe and economically, Catalytic Products International, Inc. developed their QUADRANT NRV-Thermal Oxidizer. This system is unique from other traditional Thermal Oxidizer’s because it processes the high BTU off gases directly through our proprietary NRV Burner System. Because we treat the vent stream as a fuel gas we can process higher LEL concentrations without having to use excess dilution air. The QUADRANT NRV allows the +99% VOC destruction with very little supplemental fuel use.

For this particular application, Catalytic Products International, Inc. engineered the QUADRANT NRV with a host of special alloys. The range of alloys used had to address corrosive resistance, structural stability, and high temperatures. A unique combination of alloys had to be used to meet the needs of the variety of VOC’s processed in the Oxidizer.

Next, the issue of scrubbing the acid gases out of the exhaust stream had to be evaluated. In order to meet the high VOC removal rates for halogenated VOC’s, the QUADRANT-NRV Thermal Oxidizer will operate at 1,500 F. A scrubber can not directly accept air temperatures greater than 300 F. Therefore a quencher is used to cool the gases after the combustion chamber before being introduced to the scrubber.

The combination of the QUADRANT-NRV Thermal Oxidizer with the Quencher and Scrubber allows over 99.9% removal of all VOC’s and HAP’s entering the system with a +99.9% removal of HCl gases. The system incorporates a sophisticated control system that precisely monitors and controls the entire operations for safety, economy, and regulatory verification.

Catalytic Products International is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of custom air pollution control systems, energy conservation equipment, and catalyst products.

For more information about this system or any of the VOC abatement systems designed and manufactured by Catalytic Products International, please contact us.

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