The direct fired recuperative thermal oxidizer, designed and manufactured by Glenro Inc., cleans a manufacturing exhaust stream that contains organic hydrocarbon contaminants. Glenro manufactured the Direct Fired Thermal Oxidizer to eliminate VOCs from an exhaust air stream, and it is integrated into the customer's manufacturing operations. The system handles 21,000 scfm of air and includes both primary and secondary heat recovery subsystems to recapture a large amount of heat energy for reuse in the process.

The primary heat recovery subsystem preheats the oxidizer's inlet air stream before it goes to the combustion chamber, which results in significant energy savings. The secondary heat recovery system, which includes an insulated air mixing enclosure, mixes a controlled portion of the clean, hot, oxidized exhaust air with room air to supply energy to a process oven. The remainder is used to fire a waste heat boiler that produces steam.

Thermal oxidizers have become many manufacturers' method for meeting the challenges of increasingly stringent environmental controls on atmospheric release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from their manufacturing processes. In the Glenro thermal oxidizer, process exhaust is ducted to a combustion chamber, where a burner raises the air stream to a prescribed temperature. Contaminants burn to harmless products of combustion. Once the thermal oxidizer reaches operating temperature, solvents in the exhaust stream ignite and begin to serve as a heat source for their own destruction. The more solvent present in the exhaust, the lower the oxidizer's fuel requirements.

The thermal oxidizer is constructed of high-grade stainless steel and other heavy-duty materials for long service life. The system includes insulated ductwork. The oxidizer was shipped prewired, prepiped, and skid mounted for easy handling and installation.