Numerical simulation of a regenerative thermal oxidizer for volatile organic compounds treatment

Abstract

As regulations governing the control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have become increasingly stringent in China, regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) have been more frequently applied in medium-and high-concentration VOCs treatments. However, due to the lack of existing RTO-related research, experience remains a dominant factor for industrial application. This paper thus aimed to establish a model for industrial RTOs, using a transient simulation method and thermal equilibrium model to simulate the internal velocities and temperature distributions of an RTO across multiple cycles. A comparison showed an error of less than 5% between most correlating simulated and experimental measurement points, verifying that the simulation method was accurate. After verification, the velocity and temperature fields inside the RTO were simulated to study the uniformity of temperature and velocity within the packed beds: both fields displayed high uniformity after gas flowed through the honeycomb regenerator. The effects of air volume, VOCs concentrations, and valve switching times on the oxidation chamber temperature, RTO outlet temperature, and thermal efficiency (as well as their averages) were studied. The VOCs removal rate in this study was constantly above 98%, and the average thermal efficiency reached 90%.

A scalable twin surface dielectric barrier discharge system for pollution remediation at high gas flow rates

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Advanced Oxidation Processes and Nanofiltration to Reduce the Color and Chemical Oxygen Demand of Waste Soy Sauce

“…The lower residual color after oxidation with H2O2/O3 as the H2O2/O3 ratio increased was attributed to the increased formation of OH radicals [20][21][22][23]. Other studies have reported increased H2O2/O3 ratios and biodegradability after wastewater treatment with O3 and H2O2 [24,25].…”

Adsorption–Desorption Behaviors of Methanol and Ethyl Acetate on Silica Gel: Modeling and Experimental Tests

“…During the past decades, many different methods for VOCs treatment have been developed and used in the industry, such as absorption, , oxidation, condensation, biological degradation, membrane separation, , and adsorption. The adsorption is a promising and efficient method for removal and recovery of VOCs .…”