Ship & Shore Environmental’s Low NOx Thermal Oxidizer (LNTO) Project

Ship & Shore Environmental’s Low NOx Thermal Oxidizer (LNTO) Project

Ship & Shore Environmental COO Anu Vij presented the following information to SCAQMD during July of this year, highlighting the development of the Low-NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) Thermal Oxidizer.

A biogas company reached out to Ship & Shore Environmental requesting a custom 99% efficient dual-stage Low NOx Thermal Oxidizer. They requested that downstream heat recovery capability be combined with a pyrolysis furnace and condensers to fully oxidize four waste streams high in sulfur and nitrogen while limiting NOx formation.

The construction phase of this project proved challenging due to the preciseness that this prototype required. It was built into a vortex-like spiral with capped anchors all throughout. For its refractors, two layers – a 9” thick Lo Erode and a 6” thick Lo Erode – were assembled for the TO (Thermal Oxidizer) and Quench respectively.

With limited space and potential excess production of NOx, Ship & Shore had to ensure that the waste streams didn’t contain nitrogen content that could potentially emit an excessive amount of NOx. To do this, a high temperature reducing atmosphere with 1+ second residence time (2150°F) was used in the first chamber of the prototype, which provided proactive control of nitrogen oxides. In the second, slightly cooler chamber (1650°F), the exhaust gas sent one-half of the heat exchanger to recover some heat that would be utilized for other operations. The second half is sent to a quench. To conclude, the LNTO prototype that Ship & Shore built for this company had to be constructed with precision and creativity, and through the success of the team, 99% of the potential NOx formation in the LNTO can be destroyed all while using a minimal amount of natural gas.