Reducing Carbon Footprint using Alternative Energy for Combustion Devices

insights from industryKevin SummMarketing DirectorAnguil Environmental Systems

In this interview, industry expert Kevin Summ provides insights into the shift to alternative energy sources for emission combustion systems, their benefits over traditional gas-fired systems, key design features, adoption challenges, and innovations driving sustainable air pollution control in industrial applications.

How do oxidation systems operating with electric or hydrogen heating, compare to traditional gas-fired systems in terms of performance and environmental impact?

Industrial air pollution control systems like oxidizers and fume incinerators have historically used fossil fuels such as natural gas, propane, fuel oil, or diesel to generate necessary heat for the combustion of these air pollutants. Burning fossil fuels creates greenhouse gas emissions, which the industry is trying to avoid. Typical fossil fuel burners produce combustion products such as NOx and CO₂ as well as SOx if sulfur is present in the fuel. As customers look to lower their carbon footprint, they are looking to alternate heating methods that remove greenhouse gas emissions from the heating system within their oxidizer systems. Transitioning to alternative fuel sources positions businesses to adapt to evolving regulatory landscapes and energy market trends.

Manufacturers now have options for oxidation technologies with a lower carbon footprint to meet regulations while lowering environmental impact.

With growing environmental regulations, how do you see the adoption of alternative oxidizer systems evolving across industries?

As more companies voluntarily embrace ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) standards, they rely less on government regulations to force change - opting instead to adopt green technologies as part of their corporate objectives and to maintain a positive public perception. Investors, stakeholders, and consumers increasingly prioritize companies that demonstrate environmental responsibility, making ESG-aligned strategies a key driver for long-term success.

By adopting our low-carbon oxidizer technology, companies can achieve multiple objectives:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve overall air quality
• Strengthening corporate sustainability initiatives in alignment with ESG goals
• Improve brand reputation by demonstrating proactive environmental responsibility

Image Credit: Anguil Environmental Systems

What key design features make Anguil’s alternative fuel oxidizers stand out in the market?

Anguil has decades of experience supplying alternative heating methods for oxidizer technologies. We are at the forefront of low-carbon oxidation solutions with established designs and scalable options for both thermal and catalytic oxidizers. Compared to traditional natural gas-fired combustion systems, these industry-leading technologies offer a lower carbon footprint, faster installation, quicker system start-up, enhanced flexibility during low-flow conditions, reduced maintenance with high reliability, and comparable capital costs.

Anguil oxidizer designs with electric heating elements have zero NOx, SOx, or CO₂ emissions and eliminate the need for gas connections, fuel trains, and burners. For customers with hydrogen capacity, we also offer these specialty burners, which eliminate SOx and CO₂ emissions with near-zero NOx output. Dual-fuel functionality is a great option when redundancy is essential—offering all these advantages while maintaining the same high-energy recovery and destruction efficiencies as natural gas burners.

The electrically heated oxidizer has several advantages over burner systems, regardless of the fuel type, including uniform heat distribution, faster installation with reduced wiring and no burner tuning. These systems eliminate the need for fossil fuels while reducing maintenance and regulatory inspections. They also offer scalability, allowing for extra heating capacity if needed. With a smaller footprint and no fuel train requirements, they are ideal for facilities following ESG standards or lacking fossil fuel access. As renewable energy sources expand, operating costs will continue to decrease, making this technology even more sustainable.

What are the primary challenges industries face when transitioning from gas-fired oxidizers to alternative fuel systems, and how are they being addressed?

First of all, it is very difficult and often cost-prohibitive to convert an existing gas-fired oxidizer to electric. This high initial cost prevents companies with existing oxidation technologies from investing in low-carbon solutions, often opting to wait until the gas-fired technology requires replacement to make the transition.

Also, while the electrically heated catalytic oxidizer is well established and widely applied, the industry has been slower to implement lower carbon components like electric heating elements and hydrogen-fueled burners into the Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO).  Due to the high Thermal Energy Recovery (TER) within the regenerative style system, there has not been a huge push for alternative heat inputs.  Essentially, the RTO is so efficient that the greenhouse gas output is already low. 

The standard, gas-fired RTO is typically supplied with 95% TER heat recovery media because they self-sustain (require no supplemental gas) at low emission concentrations. Higher efficiency, 97% TER can be designed on gas-fired RTOs, but it is generally considered an adder and only applied on very low concentration streams. Electric RTO systems will also self-sustain at low concentrations, but the Anguil standard design uses 97% TER heat recovery media to minimize heater size and ensure proper heat distribution from the electric heating elements, which will improve energy efficiency but add additional costs.

Image Credit: Anguil Environmental Systems

Can you share a specific example demonstrating the environmental and operational benefits of using Anguil’s oxidizer solutions?

One example is a major lithium-ion battery manufacturer that needed to control 70,000 SCFM of VOC-laden air without using fossil fuels. Anguil provided a customized solution using a zeolite concentrator wheel and an electrically heated Regenerative Catalytic Oxidizers (RCO). This setup reduced pollutant emissions by over 90% while achieving 97% thermal energy recovery, significantly lowering energy consumption. Additionally, the system’s design minimized footprint constraints and allowed for seamless integration into the facility. The result was a highly efficient, sustainable, cost-effective pollution control system that met strict environmental regulations without compromising operational efficiency.

With the rise of renewable energy sources, how do you foresee the operating costs of electric oxidizers changing in the next decade?

As more electricity is generated from renewable sources like wind, wave, and solar, the cost of green energy will continue to decline, making the operating costs of an electric oxidizer even more appealing. 

Are there any upcoming innovations or technologies that Anguil is exploring to further enhance the sustainability and efficiency of oxidizer systems?

While Anguil has countless electrically heated oxidation systems in the field, we are constantly researching and developing them to increase efficiency and reliability. We have built a test system at our facility in Milwaukee where we can test different heater configurations and types based on customer-specific conditions. We ensure our solutions remain at the forefront of sustainable air pollution control.

About Kevin Summ 

Kevin Summ has been actively involved in applying environmental technologies to various industrial processes for almost thirty years. With a technical understanding of pollution control systems and the regulations they apply, Kevin has vast experience in almost every industry and region of the world.