The smoking process produces high smoke emissions together with a high organic tar load. Thermal exhaust air cleaning processes for smoker exhaust air have proven to be high maintenance in ongoing operations: oxytec (Hamburg, Germany) has now developed an automated exhaust air washer specifically for smoker exhaust air with a high tar content that has a downstream UV/ozone system. The system is characterised by low maintenance requirements, according to the manufacturer, because the system is cleaned fully automatically with low energy use. The four-step process has the following properties: organic C < 50 mg, reduction in formaldehyde, odour reduction by up to 95 percent, no CO2, completely biodegradable.
The air is first washed in the washer, separating out particles and solid materials (tar). This protects downstream components against sooting. The air components that have been washed out are fed into the waste water of the washer, which is cleaned at regular intervals without manual follow-up work being necessary.
The UV/ozone system reduces the remaining organic and odour-producing particles in the air. This is followed by a reaction sequence with a storage reactor. The company points out the advantages of photo-oxidation such as compliance with regulatory requirements from TA Luft (organic C, formaldehyde, aromatics, mercaptans, odour limits), low CO2 emissions, reduced maintenance and operating costs, low energy consumption, on/off system, impervious to load fluctuations.