CVET GmbH

CVET and its partners are developing a novel regenerative oxidation technology with electrical inductive heating

Clausthaler Verfahrens- und Energietechnik GmbH (CVET) and its project partners have received funding approval for the research and development project eiROX – electrically induced regenerative oxidation. The aim of the project is to develop a novel technology for treating industrial exhaust air in which natural gas, the fossil fuel required until now, can be replaced by electrical energy.

Regenerative thermal oxidisers (RTO) are used in many industries to safely oxidise organic components – solvents, for example – contained in production exhaust air. The technology uses thermal storage units, known as regenerators, to recover most of the heat present in the process. For heating up, however, and for operating conditions in which the energy contained in the exhaust air is not sufficient, conventional plants are generally fired with natural gas.

Replacing natural gas with innovative induction heating

This is exactly where eiROX comes in: in future, the required heat is to be coupled electrically and inductively directly into the oxidation zone. At the heart of the development are specially doped silicon carbide (SiC) bodies produced by 3D printing. They absorb the alternating magnetic field generated from outside and convert its energy directly into heat. The technology builds on many years of preliminary work by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The combination of regenerative oxidation and induction heating, together with the use of doped SiC both as a ceramic storage material and as an energy converter, are key innovations of the project.

A further aim goes beyond simply replacing the fuel: the chemical energy contained in the oxidised organic components of the exhaust air is to be made usable as high-temperature process heat. To this end, CVET is developing a model-based, self-parameterising predictive control of the hot gas extraction. This is intended to use the available energy as efficiently as possible and to minimise the demand for electrical heating energy.

From demonstrator to industrial application

Within the project, which is scheduled to run for 36 months, a demonstrator on a scale suitable for scale-up will be built in Clausthal-Zellerfeld and investigated extensively in experiments. The test results will then be used to optimise the process, validate the calculation and control model and develop an economically attractive commercial plant solution.

Duration: 36 months
Test operation: starting after around 15 months
Result after 36 months: concept for a commercial plant and a validated calculation model
Work packages: nine – from the development of the SiC bodies through engineering, construction and commissioning of the demonstrator to experimental process development and the assessment of economic viability

Great potential in paint drying

The potential is particularly large in the automotive industry, for example. Paint drying today mainly relies on thermal oxidation plants. The project partners expect that a combination of eiROX, a reduction in the exhaust air volume and optimised dryer heating could make CO₂ savings in the order of around 171,000 to 277,000 tonnes per year possible on paint dryer lines in Germany alone. Further potential exists in the treatment of exhaust air from paint booths and in numerous other industries.

Strong partners from industry and research

The lead applicant and project coordinator is Clausthaler Verfahrens- und Energietechnik GmbH (CVET). The other partners are:

CVET – Process engineering for a low-emission, future-proof industry.

CVET – Clausthaler Verfahrens- und Energietechnik GmbH