Mission
VOCGENTM CHP Technology
The Sustainable Energy Solution for Industry
Our mission is to provide leadership in the transformatoin of industry by replacing energy intensive legacy technologies with VOCGEN combined heat and power systems for a sustainable and profitable future.
VOCGEN CHP Systems utilize high-Btu value VOC-laden air emissions generated by manufacturing and petrochemical industries as supplemental fuel (in addition to natural gas) to cogenerate heat & power (CHP). The result is efficient and reliable onsite energy with a 33-80% reduction of green house gases; decrease in the cost of operation and increase in profitability based on the elimination of the life cycle costs of existing air pollution control facilities and the avoidance of purchased electricity and fuel costs.
From Pollution Control to Recycling Energy
Few question the importance of reducing or eliminating air and water pollutants from our nation’s industrial processes. To the extent there is any controversy, it is about the need to balance benefits with costs as we try to manage the reduction of those pollutants. In the case of air pollution generally, and more specifically, the reduction of volatile organic compounds, standard engineering practice generally requires some form of pollution control technology. The good news is that this approach does very well, typically achieving emission reductions of at least 98 percent when the technology is appropriately designed, engineered, and operated. On the other hand, the conventional pollution control technologies do only that; they control pollution to acceptable levels but provide little else in the way of economic benefits.
But, what if the redesign of such systems made it possible to produce useful by-products beyond the so-called “end of pipe” controls? In the case of industrial plants required to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the dominant abatement technologies include regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) which provide an efficiency removal rate of 98 percent and higher. Environment and Power Systems International (EPSI) has developed an alternative technology that uses the VOC-containing gases enriched with natural gas to generate both electricity and useful thermal heat as a by-product of pollution control. This paper describes the alternative technology and reviews the potential contribution to the nation’s electricity supply. Preliminary data suggests there may be 25,000 industrial facilities that might be able to take advantage of this alternative technology. If 60 percent of these facilities adopt the EPSI system by 2025, the primary energy savings might exceed one quad of energy. This is equivalent to the petroleum production that might be provided by opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
Beyond the Spark Spread*
Clean energy technologies are important, but an important clean energy technology investment criterion is whether it can generate a significant economic savings for the customer/end user.
Combined heat and power (CHP) is desirable because of its high fuel to energy efficiency (up to 90% or greater in electricity and heat energy value) and because CHP conserves valuable natural gas. CHP also achieves other important objectives including energy reliability for critical industrial manufacturing processes and homeland security for the power grid via decentralized distributed energy plants.
In the case of VOCGEN CHP Technology, volatile organic compounds (VOC) containing high-Btu fuel value are utilized as an energy source (energy recycling) in the cogeneration of heat and power systems rather than being destroyed as a pollutant as in the case of traditional VOC air pollution control burners, i.e., thermal oxidizers, flares, etc. Traditional VOC burners use considerable natural gas reserves, with no economic benefit.
The difference between traditional CHP systems and applications using VOCGEN CHP Technology is that traditional CHP systems rely on the spark spread* to be economically viable and VOCGEN CHP Technology relies on the spark spread and it eliminates the life-cycle costs of traditional VOC air pollution control equipment - because it simultaneously abates VOC emissions. In most cases, the results are a simple payback in 2 years or less. In regions of the United States where the price of natural gas and electricity is high, the simple payback can be less than one (1) year.
Because VOCGEN Technology can achieve the environmental and energy objectives of the U.S.National Energy Policy, the USEPA CHP Partnership, U.S.Homeland Security and the energy policies of nations worldwide, it is an important clean energy technology.
That is why we ask engineers, managers and executives managing manufacturing industries to consider VOCGEN when replacing traditional VOC destruct air pollution control equipment (thermal oxidizers, burners or flares) or when assessing the capture and abatement of fugitive air emissions from petrochemical pipeline, storage and processing facilities and transportation vehicles (truck, train, ships).
The positive results of an investment-grade energy and environmental assessment by Environment & Power Systems International could be your pathway to capturing significant savings and other competitive benefits from the installation of a VOCGEN CHP System.
The economic and strategic benefits of VOCGEN CHP Technology can additionally be realized at facilities that do not traditionally use VOC abatement equipment, but simply emit 50 or more tons of VOCs each year under the authorization of an air quality permit, which can resulting in a net reduction of VOCs and a 33% reduction in greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in the air shed.
*Spark Spread (click here)