How it Works

The adsorber section of the fluid bed system includes a series of perforated plate adsorption trays. Contaminated process exhaust enters from the bottom, passing upward through the adsorption trays, fluidizing the adsorbent and adsorbing the VOCs. VOC saturated adsorbent flows to the bottom of the adsorber vessel, from which it is removed at a slow, steady rate and transferred to the desorber. Meanwhile, regenerated adsorbent is continuously fed into the top of the adsorber vessel, providing counter-current VOC removal.

In the desorber, the temperature of the adsorbent material is increased, causing it to release the VOC contaminants into a low volume, inert carrier gas stream. The cleaned adsorbent material is then returned to the top of the adsorber vessel for reuse.

The concentrated contaminant stream is so small that it can often be easily treated with a simple afterburner or recovered for reuse or disposal through condensation. The condensation process is shown below.

One key to achieving high performance levels is the beaded activated carbon adsorbent material. The small, spherical "beads" have a high surface area for adsorption and are ideal for treating a wide range of solvents at high or high concentrations. With an attrition rate of less than 1% per year, operating and maintenance costs are extremely low.

Technology Evolution

The world's first practical commercial fluidized bed system was introduced to the market in the 1970's. This was made possible by the invention of beaded activated carbon (BAC), which is a petroleum pitch based, highly attrition resistant spherical material. There are currently over 1,000 fluidized bed systems installed worldwide for VOC control in a variety of industries. EC&C has had the benefit of having a continual close working relationship with the original developer of the technology.

EC&C has continued independently to modify and improve upon the design of the fluidized bed technology. Recent developments include the commercialization of a new desorption technique using ultra efficient energy methods. The new desorber will also have the capability to perform periodic in-place high temperature carbon reactivation, if required.

Our Technology at Work

Fluidized Bed Concentrators
Industry: Fiber Reinforced Plastic Location: Missouri Inlet Stream: 25,000 CFM VOC Contaminants: Styrene Performance Achieved: > 95% Note: Complete removal of odor, with no degradation of carbon performance over the long term.
Industry: Military Location: Michigan Inlet Stream: 160,000 CFM VOC Contaminants: Paint Solvents Performance Achieved: > 95% Note: Concentrator system with oxidizer and heat recovery for multi-source process air streams.
Industry: Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing Location: Israel Inlet Stream: 20,000 CFM VOC Contaminants: Semiconductor solvents, 50 ppmv Performance Achieved: > 95% Note: System located in populated area of a major city and has eliminated nuisance odor.
Industry: Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing Location: Arizona Inlet Stream: 36,000 CFM VOC Contaminants: Semiconductor solvents, 25-100 ppmv Performance Achieved: > 95% Note: System met strict local compliance requirements while achieving ZUD (Zero Unscheduled Downtime)
Industry: Teflon Tubing Manufacturing Location: Massachusetts Inlet Stream: 1,800 CFM VOC Contaminants: Perchlorethylene, 1500 ppmv Performance Achieved: 98% DRE Note: Recovered solvent re-used in process, system payback in 1 year.
Industry: Furniture Painting Location: California Inlet Stream: 50,000 CFM VOC Contaminants: Paint solvents, 25-50 ppmv Performance Achieved: > 95% Note: Recovered solvent reformulated with paint.