Permanent Total Enclosure Posts

Catalytic Products International (CPI) installed a 22,000 SCFM Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) at a Northeastern USA construction materials manufacturer for the abatement of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

This article was updated in July 2026 to reflect current EPA Method 204 guidance.

Fugitive VOC emissions are the uncontrolled release of gases to the atmosphere — vapors that never make it into a control device at all. A well-built thermal oxidizer, RTO, or catalytic oxidizer routinely destroys 95–99%+ of the VOCs that reach it, but that destruction rate only counts toward your permit if the emissions actually get there. 

Overall control efficiency is:    Overall Control (%) = Capture Efficiency (%) × Destruction Efficiency (%) ÷ 100 

If your capture system is only 70% effective and your oxidizer destroys 98% of what reaches it, your overall compliance number is 68.6% — often not enough to satisfy a permit limit. This is why fugitive emissions are frequently the single largest source of uncontrolled VOCs at a facility, and why regulators require a documented, tested capture strategy before crediting your oxidizer's destruction rate at all.