Regenerative thermal oxidizer

A regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) is a piece of industrial equipment used for the treatment of exhaust air. The system is a type of thermal oxidizer that uses a bed of ceramic material to absorb heat from the exhaust gas. It then uses this captured heat to preheat the incoming process gas stream and destroy air pollutants emitted from process exhaust streams at temperatures ranging from 815 °C (1,500 F) to 980 °C (1,800 F).

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• Materials treated
• Industries served
• Other solutions
• References

These gas streams are usually produced by processes requiring ventilation, including paint booths, printing, and paper mills. Municipal waste treatment facilities such as mechanical biological treatment plants are required by law in Germany to incorporate these systems. Biological alternatives to this system include biofilters and bioscrubbers.

They are suited to applications with low VOC concentrations but high waste stream flow rates. This is due to their high thermal energy recovery. The basic operation of an RTO consists of passing a hot gas stream over a heat sink material in one direction and recovering that heat by passing a cold gas stream through that same heat sink material in an alternate cycle. They are used to destroy air toxins, odors, VOCs, and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that are discharged in industrial process exhausts.