Kono Kogs Achieves Unmatched RTO Refurbishment for Challenging Metal Coating Process

GREEN BAY, Wis., July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Established in 1996, Kono Kogs has twenty-five years' experience purchasing and refurbishing thermal oxidizers, regenerative thermal oxidizers, and catalytic recuperative oxidizers; an installed base of over 400 oxidizers across 5 continents, and an extensive inventory of available used systems.

In a recent RTO refurbishing project, Kono Kogs demonstrated their unmatched capabilities while providing a cost-effective solution to a client's challenging air pollution control needs.

The process began with selecting the best match as a base system: two pre-owned RTOs (regenerative thermal oxidizers) from Kono Kogs' inventory, featuring one of the best rotary valve designs on the market. This was an important consideration for this client's pressure-sensitive manufacturing process.

The client's metal-coating application has highly condensable VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which tend to build up on the fan wheel in a typical forced-draft RTO system, causing fan imbalances. The solution was to move the fan to the exhaust side of the RTO where the higher temperature on the outlet prevents buildup on the fan and fan wheel.

This application also has cold and hot airstreams that combine just prior to the RTO. An inlet mixing box was added to control temperatures before entering the RTO, preventing condensate buildup on duct walls and the RTO valve.

Natural gas injection was added, which provides exceptionally low operating costs and low NOx emissions. The gas train was completely overhauled with upgrades needed for proper control of a new low NOx burner, which was added to meet local codes.

For process operating flexibility, an innovative tandem operation was created. This involved the addition of priority logic, additional isolation dampers for each RTO, and a common ductwork header design. An Allen Bradley ControlLogix PLC and PanelView MMI was added in a fully redesigned & UL-rated control room. The result: all eight processes can be directed to either RTO, both RTOs, or a single RTO, facilitating routine maintenance.

In addition to these application-specific updates, Kono Kogs performed the extensive refurbishing they're known for. The RTOs were taken down to their main components: the rotary valve, ceramic media chamber, and combustion chamber. Nearly all auxiliary components, including the fans, blowers, exhaust stacks, burners, and most of the gas train were replaced.

On the remaining sub-systems, Kono Kogs refurbished the rotary valves (including new seals), fully rebuilt the air cylinders, replaced the solenoid actuating valves, inspected and repaired any cold face issues, combustion chamber and media bed insulation, and tested and replaced all instrumentation as needed. Kono Kogs also provided new ceramic media designed specifically for this application, to mitigate plugging.

With 150+ years of experience amongst their core team, Kono Kogs is an industry leader capable of supplying the most complicated reconfiguration work to meet challenging air pollution control requirements. But they still enjoy solving simpler needs, most notably those of first-time buyers navigating the confusing oxidizer and regulation maze. Visit konokogs.com for more information.

Media Contact

Tamara Hellgren, NAVEO Marketing, 262-703-0800, [email protected]

SOURCE Kono Kogs