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Catalyst Poisoning in Thermal Oxidation Unit

A manufacturer used conventional high-temperature thermal incineration to destroy volatile hydrocarbon emissions and then recovered thermal energy in a waste heat boiler. To save fuel, they installed a new catalytic oxidation unit (between the incinerator and boiler) that would combust volatile hydrocarbons at lower temperatures. The catalyst never functioned properly because there was no temperature rise across the bed and the operation failed source emissions tests. APTECH was asked to investigate the claims. The results of catalyst testing showed that the catalyst was severely poisoned (surface area of about 0.1 m2/gm) and had a negligible pore volume. APTECH used ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis) to determine the surface composition of the catalyst; the results clearly showed the presence of silicon dioxide. It is well known that noble metal oxidation catalysts are poisoned by heavy metals (e.g., phosphorous, silicon) because they tend to adhere to active catalyst sites. APTECH prepared a report of its findings.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Kimble Clark, Ph.D.		Failure analysis, heat transfer & thermodynamics, process plant equipment failures & explosions, fuel science, combustion, industrial fires and explosions.

Steven Kohan, Ph.D.		Chemical engineering, refinery processes, toxic fume generation.