VOC Recovery through Microwave Regeneration of Adsorbents: Comparative Economic Feasibility Studies

ABSTRACT

Microwave regeneration of adsorbents facilitates the recovery of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by decoupling the bed heating from the stripping gas. This makes possible the creation of a highly-concentrated regeneration effluent from which the VOCs can be recovered by condensation at near-ambient temperatures. The economic feasibility of two novel microwave-regenerated adsorption systems was evaluated by systematically comparing the capital and operating costs of the proposed systems with 10 conventional VOC control technologies. The microwave systems were found to have similar capital and operating costs to conventional steam regeneration systems and, therefore, may present an attractive alternative for recovering water-miscible solvents. In general, the cost of the microwave subsystem is a relatively small component of the overall system costs, and the microwave power requirements are within the range of commercially available generators, even for large emission streams.