Carbovac specializes in Vapour Recovery Units (VRUs) designed for a variety of loading operations, including road tanker (truck) and railcar (train) loading facilities. Their technology effectively captures volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions during these transfer activities, ensuring environmental compliance and recovering valuable product.
Core Technology
Carbovac VRUs use a proven activated carbon adsorption and dry screw vacuum pump regeneration process.
Adsorption: As trucks or railcars are loaded with hydrocarbons (like gasoline, naphtha, or diesel), the displaced vapours are routed to the VRU. The vapours pass through beds of activated carbon, which adsorb the hydrocarbons, allowing clean air to be safely vented to the atmosphere.
Regeneration & Recovery: Before the carbon is saturated, the bed is isolated and regenerated using a dry screw vacuum pump. The vacuum extracts the concentrated hydrocarbon vapours, which are then typically sent to an absorber column to be re-absorbed into a circulating liquid product and returned to the storage tanks.
Applications and Benefits
These units are installed at petroleum distribution terminals and storage facilities globally.
Truck Loading: Carbovac VRUs are widely used for road tanker loading bays, handling varying flow rates and concentrations of vapours generated during top or bottom loading operations.
Railcar Loading: The systems are also suitable for large-volume railcar loading stations, designed to handle the specific requirements for different products like iso-Butane, n-Butane, and natural gasoline.
Compliance and Safety: The technology ensures compliance with stringent international environmental regulations (e.g., limits of 35 grams/cubic meter or even lower) and enhances safety by reducing fire hazards associated with escaped vapours.
Economic Efficiency: By recovering up to 99.9% of hydrocarbons that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere, the units provide a significant return on investment. The robust design of the dry screw vacuum pumps also contributes to low maintenance costs and a long system life cycle.