Vapor Recovery Units (URV/VRU)
Licensed Manufacturing Jordan Technologies
FLUXO is licensed by the American company Jordan Technologies, world leader in URV technology, to manufacture the units in Brazil.
With more than 20 Vapor Recovery Units (URV, or VRU in English) manufactured under the license of the American Jordan Technologies, Fluxo was one of the few companies in Brazil that had its units inspected by Cetesb, being approved in the efficiency requirements of the applicable regulation. Through adsorption/regeneration/absorption or membrane separation technology, it is possible to treat the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emanating to the atmosphere in a cargo of hydrocarbons in trucks, wagons or ships, recovering them to the liquid phase.
The vapor recovery process involves two steps: the separation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the gas stream and then the liquefaction of these vapors for return to the storage tank.
In vapor recovery units (URV) with activated carbon, the VOC separation step is carried out through an adsorption process, and liquefaction by absorption.
During adsorption, VOC molecules adhere to activated carbon grains (adsorbent solid indicated for hydrocarbons) and remain accumulated in the bed until saturation. From there, the vessel regeneration process begins, with vacuum pumps that direct the vapors (now in a highly concentrated gas stream) to an absorption column, where the absorbent fluid circulates for grouping and liquefying the molecules. Closing the circuit, a return pump drives the fluid back to the storage tank with minimal changes in its composition.
Vacuum pumps are the devices responsible for the activated carbon regeneration process after adsorption, directing the vapor stream to the absorption column. They are, therefore, the heart of the system.
Manufactured by the Japanese company Hori, these pumps are less noisy, more efficient than traditional pumps and do not require injection of gasoline into the vacuum chamber for cooling. HORI pumps are exclusive to URVs supplied by FLUXO/JORDAN.
This is the latest generation of VRU technologies, which has evolved from obsolete glycol seal pumps, later to dry twin-screw pumps (widely used in the market) and now with Hori dry pumps. This evolution aims to increase system availability, since vacuum pumps are the heart of URV, in addition to reducing operating and maintenance costs.
In order to allow the uninterrupted use of the system, two activated carbon vessels are dimensioned, which alternately adsorb. While one saturated bed is regenerated by the vacuum pump, the other remains accumulating the VOC molecules until its saturation for further regeneration. The emission limit in the exhaust of coal beds is clean air with a concentration of VOCs less than 10 mg/L.
The following figure contains the typical flowchart of a unit. The flowchart may have differences in the detail of each project.
