Flexible Catalytic Oxidation System handles extremes of Russian weather

AirProtekt, of Cambridge has supplied a Honeycat Catalytic Oxidation System to a Medium Density Fibre board (MDF) processing plant in Russia.

The UK’s leading air pollution control specialists optimised the Honeycat system for the abatement of phenol, formaldehyde and methanol vapours given off during the industrial resin manufacturing stage of the Russian plant’s MDF production process.

The complete catalytic oxidation equipment was built, tested and fresh air commissioned in the UK inside a dedicated ISO container before being shipped to the Russian site located near the Ural Mountains where the abatement equipment was simply connected to the process plant. The catalytic oxidation system, which incorporates gas tight sealing to prevent localised emissions of formaldehydes, also features high efficiency ceramic insulation/fibre mats that are designed to significantly reduce heat losses and external surfaces temperatures.

The low process flowrates featured at the Russian MDF processing plant allow a compact oxidiser design to be used which can be built inside a standard ISO container complete with control and air conditioning systems. The ISO container-based system enables the equipment to be provided as an almost mobile application solution that can be easily moved from site to site. The solution has the added benefit of helping to minimise system running costs. AirProtekt has supplied a very low maintenance electrically pre heated system that features low catalyst operating temperatures that result in low thermal stress solution that extends operating life.

The Honeycat Catalytic Oxidation System was also designed to enable quick start up which offers the processing plant the flexibility to run the air pollution control unit in conjunction with batch based production runs.

“The Honeycat Air Pollution Control System was designed to withstand operation in very extreme ambient conditions that are faced in Russia. The system is capable of running at -50°C in the winter and +30°C in the summer. The new unit is the third Honeycat Catalytic Oxidation System supplied by AirProtekt to the Russians in recent years,” explained Trevor Lawton, AirProtekt’s managing director. “The Finnish chemical company acting for the Russian processing plant was impressed with track record of AirProtekt‘s catalyst technology which has been used on previous similar projects and recommended our equipment to the end customer. Our technology is reliable and has been field proven on this process for more than 30 year. The system has an expected availability of over 99 percent. The Finnish engineers visited us in the UK to commission and test the equipment prior to shipment.”