Memories are a funny thing. Walking into a bakery the other day sent me back in time. I thought of growing up in Chicago, walking to school on a beautiful Spring day, and experiencing the smells of all sorts of wonderful things as I got close to the local bakery. Every once in a while, I would stopped in and treated myself to a fresh chocolate chip and custard Danish, which of course I had to go to the bakery this morning to and get some (ok, two) so I could provide you with this delicious image:
As a kid, I was delighted with the smells of those fresh bakery items. As an adult, I now know that the process of creating those savory aromas also generates significant smog-forming VOCs (volatile organic compounds). When the oven warms, yeast cells harness energy from the flour by breaking down some of the sugars it contains. This natural process generates gases that are key to make the dough rise. But, on the flip side, it also creates alcohol vapor (the same as the alcohol in a glass of wine) that gets released into the air with the hot oven exhaust. Multiply this across dozens of ovens and hundreds of loaves of bread, and this process of yeast fermentation becomes a significant source of troublesome air pollution.
Recently, one of our customers was adding a new “oven” to their baking operations in Kansas City. To comply with Kansas regulations (Rule 28-19-717), they needed to add a control device to achieve at least 80% total removal efficiency on the combined VOC emissions from all baking ovens. While they are expert bakers, they quickly realized that they needed some guidance on air pollution control systems.
Air pollution control is a complicated subject, but it is incredibly important for any company that uses industrial processes to understand how to manage the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that they produce. Catalytic Products provided their engineering staff with “Oxidizer 101” training, as well as real-time answers to questions regarding their specific project. The customer, now well versed in air pollution control technology, was confident in selecting catalytic oxidization to provide their emissions control.
As of last week, upon successful start-up of their VECTOR catalytic oxidizer, the ovens are baking up new batches of delicious snacks, and the customer is compliant with the emissions regulations.
At Catalytic Products International, we work hard to keep you up to date with new innovations in the environmental and sustainability arenas. We also pay attention to new and pending environmental regulations. With a history that spans almost 50 years and breadth across many industries and applications, you can be assured that CPI is a leader in our industry that pays attention to what matters to our customers.
If you are needing ideas for a Mother's Day gift, this one takes the cake:
