Oil Mist and Particulate Control
Project Desciption
Chemical client operates a grease production facility in Canada. Lithium grease is the primary product made at the facility. Oil mist and chemical additive fumes are emitted during the production of the grease. The fumes are collected by an exhaust system and vented to a knockout pot and mist eliminator. The existing APC system did not provide sufficient control of the emissions.
BioLargo Engineering determined that the existing system removed less than 50 percent of the particulate and fumes from the exhausted gas stream. Oil mist condensed on vehicles in the plant parking area and occasionally offensive odors were detectable in and around the plant. The existing system would also fail periodically, requiring that the production system be shut down, disassembled and cleaned before production could resume.
CategoryAir Pollution Control
Evaluation, Design and Implementation
BioLargo Engineering was contracted to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing control system, provide alternatives and recommend corrective action. After a thorough evaluation, we recommended that the knockout pot be removed and replaced with a countercurrent wet-scrubber. We designed the eventual APC system now installed on the production process. The system consists of dual fluid injection nozzles in the ductwork just upstream of a fogging-chamber designed by BioLargo Engineering. Oil mist and other small particulate serve as condensation nuclei in the fogging-chamber. The particles grow larger until they are collected in the scrubber or in the mist eliminator.
Steam injection lines were installed in the ductwork and mist eliminator to provide temperature moderation and cleaning of the mist eliminator without the need of process shutdown. The fogging chamber can be modified into a packed bed scrubber, if necessary. This flexibility offers initial savings in capital expenditure and potential savings should the regulations become more stringent. Emissions have been significantly reduced and odors have been eliminated.
Work Scope
Specific tasks that were performed by BioiLargo’s Engineering team included:
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the existing control system
- recommended that the knockout pot be removed and replaced with a countercurrent wet-scrubber.
- Designed the eventual APC system now installed on the production process.
- Highest Standards in Cost Control