• EXPERIENCE THROUGH INNOVATION
• THERMOTECH 90 TDU
• SRU 855
• HW 1420 INCINERATOR

EXPERIENCE THROUGH INNOVATION

Thermotech Systems Corporation, in response to the environmental concerns of the late 1980's, was one of the first to develop thermal soil remediation technology as a safe and effective means to a growing problem. Thermotech pioneered the way with its highly portable patented thermal desorption process which was immediately accepted as the standard for processing contaminated soil in many states.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supported thermal desorption as the preferred method for treating and remediating petroleum contaminated soils. As the decline in available landfills and the increasing emphasis on a cleaner environment continued, Thermotech lead the way with new technology to meet the needs of ever-changing environmental challenges, safely, and effectively.

Through the use of counterflow process technology, Thermotech was the first to perfect counterflow thermal desorption which results in much higher heat transfer efficiency, as well as, lower gas velocities and exhaust gas temperatures.
The result is a compact, low cost, machine which eliminates the need for costly high maintenance quench systems, and ancillary dust handling equipment.

Through continuing challenges and demands of the market, Thermotech has also developed patented technologies to remediate soils with heavy contaminates such as, crude oil, bunker (#6) oil, and, mineral and lubricating oils.

As part of Gencor Industries, Inc., Thermotech Systems draws upon a century of experience in combustion engineering, thermal dynamics, and controls automation.

Our success can be easily measured by the fact that, Thermotech has more proven units operating in the field than any other manufacturer.

Technology, experience, and innovation to environmental challenges, have made Thermotech Systems Corporation the leader in soil remediation equipment.

THERMOTECH 90 TDU

The patented Model 90 TDU two-stage tandem soil remediation unit is Thermotech Systems’ latest innovation for maximum efficiency destruction and removal of light and heavy hydrocarbons from contaminated soil. A second-stage processing chamber selectively releases heavy hydrocarbons which are thermally destroyed in the first stage, virtually eliminating these highly condensable hydrocarbons from the exit gas stream to the baghouse. The system is available in portable or stationary configurations.

Screened material is first fed into the Low Temperature Stage (LTS) of the two-stage rotary drum desorber in a direction countercurrent to the combustion gases. The soil temperature is elevated to a temperature suitable to remove light hydrocarbons (approx. 200°F to 400°F).  Material from the LTS is transferred by rotary elevating flights into the High Temperature Stage (HTS). The temperature of the material in the HTS is then raised, as required, to desorb mid-to high-boiling point hydrocarbons (1100°F maximum).

The desorbed vapors are routed from the HTS into the LTS burner flame where they are oxidized or cracked to low boiling point hydrocarbons.

Mixing and Cooling

Remediated soil and dust is cooled and remoisturized in a rotary mixer-cooler to approximately 200°F and remoistened to 3% to 5% moisture for dust-free handling. Resultant steam and particulate is recirculated through a preheated auxiliary baghouse.

 Dust from the primary collector and baghouse is routed to an interior annular channel in the HTS desorber stage, where the fines contact the hot  annulus shell (up to 1200°F). The dust is then combined with hot soil as it is discharged from the desorber.  Collected dust and hot soil are combined in the mixer section of a rotary mixer-cooler. The hot mass of the soil transfers heat to the dust for final treatment, if necessary, before cooling and remoisturizing.

Gases and dust leaving the desorber are superheated to avoid condensation of any heavy hydrocarbons that may have been carried over. The superheating also will flash hydrocarbons from dust particulate.

SRU 855

The portable soil remediation unit is designed to remediate soil contaminated with non-recycled distillate petroleum hydrocarbons, including gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or #2 oil and heavier carbons, by rapidly volatilizing the petroleum contaminants from the soil and destroying the gases in a thermal oxidizer. The unit is used to process most all types of soils including clays and specialty materials such as drilling muds, slags, and soils containing some -200 mesh fines.

The unit consists of a rotary desorber equipped with alloy steel high temperature section, with feed, discharge, and combustion control systems, a dust collector, and a modular thermal oxidizer with associated fuel and air delivery systems, all mounted on trailers for easy transport from site to site. The unit comes equipped with process fuel instrumentation and an 8' x 12' control room for safe, efficient, and dependable process operation.

The unit is capable of discharging soil having a total concentration of less than 20 ppm total petroleum hydrocarbon and less than 100 ppb each of toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene, and less than 10 ppb of benzene, while meeting standard stack emission limits for VOC, opacity, and particulate loading.

Soil is loaded into a feed hopper. The hopper discharges soil onto a variable speed feeder belt equipped with a belt scale, which weighs the soil before it is fed into the rotary desorber. The belt scale provides soil feed rate and totalized weights. The belt feeds contaminated soil into a counterflow rotary desorber. Hydrocarbon compounds and moisture in the soil are evaporated with heat supplied by a direct-firing burner. Heat transfer to the soil in the rotary desorber is maximized by a veiling action of specially-designed lifting flights and patented combustion volume flights.

The evaporated hydrocarbons, water vapor, and dust released by the desorbing process are carried into a gravity settling chamber, where larger particles drop out of the gas stream. Fines are then collected by the baghouse. Gas containing hydrocarbon vapors from the baghouse is routed through an exhaust fan into a horizontal thermal oxidizer. Overall DRE (Destruction Removal Efficiency) is 97% or better.

HW 1420 INCINERATOR

The hazardous waste incinerator for contaminated soil is designed to remediate soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs and other toxic chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs). The unit is a high temperature incinerator which destroys essentially all of the PCBs in the primary rotary kiln. A secondary afterburner is supplied, which insures that total destruction of the PCBs has occurred in the exhaust gases. The products of combustion, along with moisture leaving the secondary afterburner, are then quenched from 2200°F to about 350°F in a refractory-lined water spray tower to reduce the temperature of the gases to allow removal of particulate in a baghouse. The vapors are then routed to a packed absorber system, where the gases are scrubbed with caustic solution to remove acid gases. By-product brine is sent to storage.

Soil ash (discharged from the rotary kiln, cyclone, secondary combustor, and quench system) is also quenched and cooled for post treatment handling. A slat conveyor transfers the soil ash to storage for landfill or an ash stabilization plant, if toxic metals are above regulatory limits for normal landfill. Steam generated by the ash quench system is recovered for spray tower quenching.

The unit, if operated in accordance with the specifications below, is capable of remediating PCB contaminated soil to less than 1 ppm. Stack emissions of organic compounds will be destroyed with an efficiency of +99.99%. Particulate emissions are less than 0.02 grains per dry standard cubic foot.