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Catalyst for clean air
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November 2007
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Bekokat, the innovative catalysis method for compressed air processing by Beko Technologies, makes oil-free and dry compressed air possible.
It is one single system for complete compressed air de-oiling, with pure water as condensate, which may be discharged directly into the foul sewer. With Bekokat, Beko technologies says it has made “a big step forward”.
It is a catalytic system that has been developed and optimised specifically for the total oxidation of hydrocarbons in compressed air. Association of the name used in the automotive industry is deliberate. Because everybody has already heard of catalytic converters for petrol and diesel engines. Here, contaminants in the waste gas, in particular hydrocarbons, are combusted to carbon dioxide and water vapour.
Bekokat technology now also makes good use of this principle for compressed air. In the compressed air of oil-lubricated compressors, hydrocarbons are available in the form of lubricants and oils, and further air components in the form of gas, vapour and aerosols. They are sufficiently well known as impurities and condensate and require, depending on the application, extensive filtration, discharge and condensate processing. The innovative Bekokat systems fully convert these very substances into carbon dioxide and water.
For compressed air processing with Bekokat, a pressure vessel is filled with a specifically developed granular material. First, the entire vessel is heated up to an operating temperature of 150 °C. The oil components of the compressed air streaming through the heated vessel are then fully converted into water and carbon dioxide at the surface, in the pores of the granular material of the catalytic converter.
Subsequently, the purified compressed air is cooled down in a heat exchanger to a temperature of approx. 10 to 15 °C higher than at the inlet and is available for the application required. The Bekokat operates independently of the ambient conditions, oil inlet concentration and relative humidity of the compressed air. Fully de-oiled compressed air leaves the vessel. The air is so clean that it may be used as breathable air. The condensate accumulated during the cooling down of the compressed air is also absolutely oil-free and can be discharged into the sewerage system without needing to be processed. Highly advantageous, as far as cost-effectiveness is concerned, is the enormously long durability of the specific Bekokat granular material: only after a good 20000 hours will replacement be required.
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Author
Chris Rowlands
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