Envirogen Technologies has launched treatment technologies designed to help industrial facilities manage their air emissions performance and meet regulatory and permit requirements through the control of volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and odors.
The Envirogen Sustainable Emissions Control offering uses both biological and enhanced adsorption treatment technologies to address a broad range of contaminants covered under the Clean Air Act and state air quality regulatory programs, the company says.
Used alone or together, the two technology approaches allow Envirogen to treat organic and inorganic, polar and non-polar emission constituents at varying concentrations and air flow rates, the company says.
According to Envirogen, these emission controls can cost less than those provided by traditional emissions control technologies, reduce chemical and energy consumption, providing recycle/re-use options and lower overall carbon footprint. The initial applications for Envirogen Sustainable Emissions Control will be in refinery and chemical manufacturing facilities, but the products are applicable in a broad range of manufacturing environments, the company says.
According to Rob Loken, vice president, product management for Envirogen, the Sustainable Emissions Control offering can help environmental managers and engineers reduce the long-term costs for meeting air quality regulations that can impact the facility permitting process. He says the technologies are the “most sustainable on the market” and by sustainable he says he means high-performing, environmentally sound, and "with a low long-term operating costs that can be predicted and guaranteed."
Biological Treatment for Vapor Phase Applications
Envirogen offers a range of biological treatment systems for use in controlling industrial air emissions — including biofilters, biotrickling filters and combinations of the two technologies. The natural process of biofiltration uses microorganisms fixed to a porous filter bed medium to metabolize pollutants present in an air stream — consuming them as food or as an energy source. The end products of this degradation are typically water vapor, carbon dioxide and mineral salts.
The company says biological treatment is suited for contaminants that are water-soluble, polar and readily biodegradable. The company says they are effective for low loading applications at high flow volumes — including odors caused by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and other reduced sulfur compounds.
Biological treatment offers low energy consumption, chemical usage and lower long-term operating costs, Envirogen says.
EnviroHPA Systems – Advanced Adsorption Technology
Envirogen’s EnviroHPA Systems has ultra-high performing adsorbent media in systems designed, guaranteed and operated by Envirogen under multi-year agreements. As part of the Sustainable Emissions Control offering, EnviroHPA Systems compete effectively with other technologies that handle non-polar compounds at high loading and flow rates, the company says.
For industrial vapor phase treatment applications, Envirogen employs synthetic adsorbents manufactured by the Dow Chemical Company. These adsorbents offer a high surface area and optimized pore size distribution — characteristics that offer increased absorption capacity, rapid adsorption kinetics, a range of desorption options and physical and chemical stability. The company says faster kinetics and higher contaminant loading translate into higher hydraulic rates with a smaller system footprint – decreasing operations and maintenance costs for the treatment process and lowering initial capital expenditures for overall site improvements and utilities. Enhanced desorption characteristics allow media to be regenerated in place with heat, steam, aqueous acids or bases – leading to an extended media bed life in use.
In facilities that use high volumes of activated carbon, EnviroHPA Systems can offer cost reductions of up to 50 percent, with carbon footprint levels reduced by as much as two-thirds, the company says. In addition to these advantages, EnviroHPA Systems offer the option for recycle/re-use because of the desorption properties of the advanced media.
Envirogen says it offers EnviroHPA Systems as a service in which system design and installation, media costs, regeneration and disposal are charged as an operating fee over the life of the system. The company says they can be offered with low- to no-capital investment. Envirogen guarantees performance and predictable costs over the service life of the installation.
