Summary
A regenerative thermal oxidizer using ceramic saddles for heat recovery had become a bottleneck in an otherwise efficient sludge incineration process at the Fitchburg, Massachusetts wastewater treatment plant. Deteriorated old heat-exchange media was limiting the plant's throughput, wasting electric power, and requiring frequent shutdowns to wash out. Operation and maintenance costs were simply too high.

In June 2002 the oxidizer was upgraded by installing state-of-the-art MLM ceramic media having lower pressure drop, higher heat capacity, and better resistance to fouling than the old saddles.

The media upgrade eliminated the bottleneck, allowing Fitchburg to reduce landfill disposal costs by incinerating more sludge. The plant increased its revenue by processing biosolids from adjacent communities, while reducing electric power consumption. The revamped oxidizer has extra capacity for future expansion of the incinerator. Shutdowns for maintenance are now less frequent, and the new heat-exchange media has proven easier to clean.

The oxidizer upgrade paid for itself in a few months.

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MLM160-6^®

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