Sales of Thermal Treatment Systems to Exceed $1.9 Billion Next Year

Sales of air pollution control systems using thermal treatment will be just under $2 billion in 2014. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company (USA) in its Thermal/Catalytic World Air Pollution Markets.

These forecasts do not include any stationary engine CO or NO_x reduction systems. No mobile applications are included. The largest product segment will be the regenerative thermal oxidiser. It will account for nearly half the 2014 sales.

The regenerative thermal oxidiser was invented by a small company in the 1980s. This company was sold several times and is presently part of Durr. Suppliers of regenerative thermal oxidisers have two origins: Suppliers of pollution generating equipment such as dryers and painting systems (Durr, Eisenmann, and Megtec); Suppliers of other air pollution control equipment such as catalytic oxidisers and scrubbers (CECO).

The regenerative thermal oxidiser has a higher capital cost than a catalytic oxidiser or a simple thermal oxidiser but consumes less energy (at least when there is little fuel value in the contaminant stream). A simple flare is used when the fuel value is high.

The suppliers of systems purchase key components such as the saddles or other fill material. They also purchase or manufacture the dampers which are an important component. System suppliers generally furnish control systems of their own design with DCS or PLC systems supplied by companies such as Emerson, ABB and Yokogawa. Normally the continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) are not purchased by the RTO customer but directly by the operator. CEMS systems suppliers include Thermo Fisher, B&W (KVB Enertec) and Horiba.

The installed cost of an RTO system in 2012 U.S. dollars is approximately $30 per cfm. Larger applications range to 100,000 cfm. There are a number of suppliers of small systems for soil remediation. These units are often rented for a year or six months rather than sold.