Environmental Fact Sheets

The Biotox regenerative oxidation process designed by Biothermica Technologies Inc. solves air pollution problems related to industries emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs), condensible organic compounds (COCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and total reduced sulfurs (TRS). Some of these contaminants (and occasionally all of them) can be found in emissions from the following industries:

• asphalt paper and shingles manufacturing;
• graphic arts and printing;
• surface coverings;
• pharmaceuticals;
• painting process;
• anode manufacturing for aluminum plants;
• oxidation of asphalt;
• thermoplastic resins;
• rendering plants;
• sludge treatment plants;
• Kraft mills.

The bituminous droplets in some types of industrial waste are hard to remove. They tend to adhere to the walls of air treatment equipment and ignite. Simultaneous treatment of VOCs and COCs with Biotox involves preheating of the incoming gases above their dew point prior to enter the Biotox unit.. Each of the Biotox heat recuperation chambers has ceramic modules which store recovered heat in order to transfer it to the incoming gases.

The process allows the industry to meet Quebec's environmental standards on VOCs and also provides energy recovery from 80 % to 97 % on the process to be treated.

It treats VOCs and COCs simultaneously and is over 98% effective in destroying them; current standards call for 90% effectiveness in destroying VOCs. The process produces neither wastewater nor dangerous and hard-to-treat wastes, and it does not transfer pollutants to the water or soil.

The technology consumes less energy than other oxidation technologies (recuperative and catalytic oxidation), which treat pollutant concentrations of less than 3 g/Nm³. With these other technologies, the cost of equipment maintenance is higher because of frequent contamination of the catalysts by sulphur or halogen compounds in VOCs and COCs; this is not a problem with Biotox technology.

The Biotox process was developed in Quebec by Biothermica. The R&D work lasted six years and cost at $750,000, with contributions from the National Research Council of Canada, the MER [Quebec Ministry of Energy and Resources] and Environment Canada. In 1994, Biothermica won the Canadian Award for Business Excellence (innovation category) as a result of its work on Biotox. In 1997, the Ministère de l'Environnement du Québec presented Biothermica with the Mérite Environnemental prize (100 employees and less business category) for its latest installations in a Kraft mill (Cascades, East-Angus) and in an aluminum anode manufacturer (Lauralco, Deschambault).

Almost twenty biotox units have been conceived for diverse applications as follows :