Lanxess launched innovative technology to treat waste air at its site

German specialty chemicals company LANXESS has launched operation of a highly modern regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) at its production site at Port Jerǒe. The site has 220 employees producing poly but adiene rubber and solution styrene-butadiene rubber at annual capacity of 140,000 metric tons , primarily for the tire industry. Every hour, the production process generates 130,000 cubic meters of waste air containing rubber particles and solvents in the form of hydrocarbon compounds , mainly hexane . This contributes significantly to the formation of ground-level ozone and thus to the accumulation of "summer smog." The new RTO unit in Port Jerǒe and its technology purifies the waste air almost completely. LANXESS has invested some EUR 6 million in the new system. The high-tech treatment system functions by first removing all rubber particles from the waste air. The hydrocarbons are then filtered from the waste air flow, concentrated and finally incinerated. Use of the new treatment system cuts hydrocarbon emissions to approximately 20 milligrams per cubic meter waste air. For comparison, the legal limit in Europe is 110 milligrams per cubic meter. The incineration of the hydrocarbons takes place virtually without any need to add fossil fuels, such as natural gas. This LANXESS-specific process reduces CO2 emissions from incineration by around 50% compared to conventional incineration.Air Jordan XVIII 18