A series reaction approach to VOC incineration

Thermal incineration of VOCs has been evaluated by means of a two step series reaction approach, VOC --> CO --> CO2, so that the rates of VOC and CO oxidation may bath be considered. Temperature and concentration profiles have been obtained for oxidation of several VOCs as functions of space time tau. Appropriate conditions for 99.99% removal of VOC and 99.5% oxidation of intermediate CO appear to be 930 to 980 K inlet temperature, 0.05 to 0.06 kmol auxiliary fuel per kmol dry waste air and 90 to 130 % excess air for auxiliary fuel, without heat recovery. These conditions yield approximately 0.4 seconds space time and an L/d(i) ratio for the oxidation section of the incinerator of approximately 2 to 3. Heat loss from the incinerator should be less than 2% of the total heat from auxiliary fuel and VOC combustion and incinerator design should therefore be optimized with respect to fuel and insulation costs. The approach outlined in this work can easily be adapted to estimate auxiliary fuel savings via heat recovery.