Scale-up and evaluation of a pilot-scale electrothermal-swing adsorption system for the capture and recovery of organic vapors from a painting facility

The Vapor Phase Removal and Recovery System (VaPRRS™) is an activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) adsorbent based filter technology that captures organic vapors from gas streams and recovers them as liquid condensate in the same vessel. VaPRRS™ technology is based on electrothermal-swing adsorption (ESA) that uses the Joule effect to heat the adsorbent as an electrical resistor. The pilot plant unit consists of two vessels with 2 kg of ACFC in each vessel that operate alternatively on a continuous basis. This novel technology was successfully scale-up from the bench-scale (140 sLpm gas flow rate) to a pilot-scale unit (1,700 sLpm). The pilot-scale ESA system was evaluated at a painting facility in Fort Hood Army Base to assess its technical feasibility. Gaseous emissions from the painting facility contained 20 ppmv to 350 ppmv of hazardous air pollutants such as toluene and xylene. Removal and liquid recovery efficiencies, along with energy and mass balances were successfully used to characterize the system. Other parameters that were evaluated include the working adsorption capacity and energy efficiency of the system.