Original Date: 07/23/1996
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Nascote installed a regenerative thermal oxidation system from the Salem Corporation to control volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from its paint lines due to escalating production levels. When the company began operations, it received certification from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to operate its paint lines under the “small plant” plant classification that stipulated emissions of less than 249 tons per year of VOC s per coating line. The plant was designed to come up to full production in three stages, each stage to include additional pollution control equipment to comply with the IEPA standards. Stage one consisted of thermal incineration of all bake oven air, and the following two stages included the abatement of spray booth exhaust as production levels increased. Production levels, however, increased more rapidly than expected and Nascote began exceeding the VOC emission limits in early 1988, prematurely entering into stages two and three. Although extensions of operating certification were obtained that permitted the plant to operate through 1989, Nascote determined that installation of an abatement system would be necessary to meet IEPA requirements and to satisfy the EPA requirement to demonstrate best available control technology.

The regenerative thermal oxidation system from Salem Corporation is a regenerative system that reuses assets such as heat, energy, and pressure, which would otherwise be wasted. Regenerative thermal incineration destroys fume emissions and odors by effectively reusing the heat of combustion. This particular Salem Corporation system is a multi-chamber configuration that operates in an alternating inlet/outlet mode while the off-line chamber is purged of trapped contaminants. This feature ensures that all contaminants trapped in the matrix beds and retention areas are purged with clean air after each inlet cycle. Through this purging process and the high thermal efficiency (96%), up to 99% of all VOCs are destroyed.

At Nascote, a $10 million investment in this system allowed the company to greatly exceed IEPA and Environmental Protection Agency requirements, thereby avoiding potential bottlenecks in the future as production capacity increased, and ensuring environmentally responsible operations.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.