Case Studies · Ethanol

RTO High Emissivity Coating: 1,209 BTU per Gallon Better Gas Efficiency at a Midwest Ethanol Plant

Regenerative thermal oxidizer·Midwest USA

An ethanol plant's RTO for VOC destruction had insulation degradation and VOC breakthrough from temperature imbalance. Emisshield was installed across the entire interior: ceramic fiber, upper and lower chambers, burner tile, and the brick walkway. Natural gas efficiency improved by 1,209 BTU per gallon, the temperature differential rose 46°F with better destruction removal efficiency, retention time in the combustion chamber doubled, excess air and NOx fell 5.2%, and ceramic fiber module life extended.

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+1,209 BTU/gal gas efficiency
: ΔT +46°F
: Retention time 2×
: Excess air and NOx −5.2%

The Challenge

Temperature imbalance was degrading insulation and letting VOCs break through.

What Was Applied

Emisshield on the entire interior surface of the RTO.

Why It Worked

A uniform high emissivity chamber holds destruction temperature with less firing and less excess air, and the sealed fiber surface resists the cycling that degrades modules. See Energy Savings.

Summary of Results

Metric	Before	After
Natural gas efficiency	Baseline	+1,209 BTU/gal
Temperature differential (ΔT)	Baseline	+46°F, better DRE
Retention time in combustion chamber	Baseline	2×
Excess air	Baseline	−5.2%
NOx	Baseline	−5.2%
Ceramic fiber module life	Baseline	Extended
Maintenance	Baseline	Reduced

Next step

Operating the Same Asset?

Operating an RTO with VOC breakthrough or rising gas use? Send us the RTO data. We project the result from comparable documented installations.

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