When you have organic particulate in your airstream how do you control it? Are you just plain stuck with it? Not exactly. The best time to address the potential for particulate entering the RTO is before the RTO is selected. Regenerative thermal oxidizer features can address small quantities of particulates, but sometimes pre-treatment is required. Some features that address the presence of small quantities particulate are proper media selection and bake-out.

If particulate is only a small amount one solution used for organic build-up in an oxidizer is a bake-out feature. This feature elevates the temperature of the entire ceramic media bed to bake off the build-up. It's the same principle as a self-cleaning oven: Elevate the temperature enough to get rid of anything organic that's not supposed to be there. This should be built into the RTO in the original design, but the logic can be retrofit. Care should be taken to ensure the RTO design can handle the elevated temperatures through the majority of the oxidizer.

Media selection can alleviate the build-up completely or can extend the life of the ceramic bed to reduce cost of cleaning or replacement of the media.

Another option is letting the particulate build up and then periodically vacuuming the buildup. However, if the particulate is light enough to break free from the ceramic media, the beds are usually too deep to effectively vacuum the particulate. Some particulate can be simply washed out with a hose, but the effect on the insulation and other components must be considered.

What about pre-treatment options? We'll cover some options for pre-treating your oxidizer tomorrow.