RTO Equipment in Rubber Plant Waste Gas Project has been in Operation for Four Years

With the rapid development of China's economy, the rubber industry has taken a significant position in the industrial sector. The rubber products industry, which utilizes raw rubber (natural, synthetic, and reclaimed) as its primary material and various compounding agents as auxiliary materials, manufactures a wide range of products through processes such as rubber mixing, calendaring, extrusion, molding, and vulcanization.

During rubber manufacturing, organic solvents used in the production process can be released into the air during heating, contributing to air pollution. Additionally, during high-temperature plasticization and oxidation processes, such as rubber mixing, calendering, and vulcanization, raw rubber releases harmful gases. Some organic materials with low boiling points may also volatilize into the air during heating, causing pollution.

2. Project Background
   A petrochemical company in Xinjiang, a state-controlled enterprise, primarily engages in the deep processing of cracked C5, C9, and tar, further developing three industrial chains for C5, C9, and tar. The company has successively commissioned 11 production units, including a 150,000-ton-per-year C5 separation unit, a 260,000-ton-per-year petroleum naphthalene unit, and a 40,000-ton-per-year styrene unit, which produce nearly 30 types of industrial products, such as petroleum resin and isoprene rubber.

Its market coverage includes Northwest, North, Southwest, East, and South China, as well as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia.

3. Sources of Waste Gas
   • Exhaust gas from the isoprene rubber unit
   • Petroleum naphthalene tank farm
   • Light oil tanks, heavy oil tanks, breathing emissions (large and small)
   • Exhaust gas from the automotive loading bridge mixed with aromatics and the n-hexane tank farm.

4. Design Solution
   The project adopts Regenerative Thermal Oxidation (RTO) for exhaust gas treatment, utilizing a Rotary RTO system from Yuchang Environment, which represents third-generation technology. Designed for a capacity of 40,000 m³/h, it collects and deeply treats exhaust gases from the isoprene rubber unit, petroleum naphthalene tank farm, light and heavy oil tanks, breathing emissions, and the automotive loading bridge mixed aromatics and n-hexane tank farm.
5. Operational Status
   Since its commissioning in 2020, this exhaust gas treatment project for the rubber plant has been operating stably and continuously for four years. With a thermal efficiency of up to 97.3%, it achieves compliant emissions of non-methane total hydrocarbons below 20 mg/m³.