IN THIS ISSUE

THERMAL OXIDIZERS

MEET THE 2010 BUDGET

JAY SAYS

THERMAL OXIDIZERS

What are Thermal Oxidizers?

Thermal oxidizers are used to reduce air pollution emissions from a variety of industrial processes by treating the polluted exhaust gas prior to discharging the exhaust gas to atmosphere. To destroy the contaminants in a polluted exhaust gas, a thermal oxidizer uses the principle of "thermal oxidation". Thermal oxidation is a combustion process in which the contaminants within the polluted exhaust gas react with oxygen in a temperature controlled environment to create an oxidation reaction. This chemical reaction is what reduces the pollutants in the exhaust gas to an innocuous emission (CO2, water vapor, and heat) to atmosphere.

Thermal Oxidizer Types:

There are basically four types of thermal oxidizer. Direct fired thermal oxidizer (some times known as an afterburner), recuperative thermal oxidizer, regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO), and flameless thermal oxidizer (FTO). All of these thermal oxidizers operate on the same principle mentioned above which is thermally promoting an oxidation reaction between the pollutant compound in the exhaust gas and the available oxygen.

MEET THE 2010 BUDGET

The Obama Administration on Feb. 1, 2010, announced its proposed budget of $10 billion for the EPA. The president cut $500 million from the agency's 2009 budget, but did not return the bureaucracy to its ~$900 million levels under President Bush.

Water

President Obama's 2009 water budget notably focused on several specific water bodies. This year's budget noted several other projects, including $63 million for the Chesapeake Bay and $17 million for the Mississippi River Basin to respond to non-point source control recommendations of the Nutrients Innovation Task Group, and implement recommendations outlined in the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Action Plan.

This budget also invests $3.3 billion to maintain and improve outdated water infrastructure.

Air quality and climate change

The 2010 budget contains more than $43 million (a $26 million increase) toward efforts to address climate change and clean energy. Most of this was to help the EPA implement its new greenhouse gas reporting rule. The budget outlined financing to provide technical assistance for Clean Air Act permitting; perform regulatory work for the largest stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions; develop standards for mobile sources such as cars and trucks; and continue research of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

The budget includes $60 million to support state efforts to implement updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), particularly the EPA's proposed stricter air quality standards for smog and NO₂.

Brownfields and 'Healthy Communities'

This budget includes $1.3 billion for Superfund sites. In addition, $215 million is provided to clean up abandoned or underused industrial and commercial sites that are available for alternative uses but where redevelopment may be complicated by the presence of environmental contaminants. Most of this funding is expected to come from reinstatement of the polluter pays principle.

The budget also offers $27 million for the agency's new Healthy Communities Initiative. This initiative will address community water priorities; promote clean, green, and healthy schools; improve air toxics monitoring in at-risk communities; and ensure that policies and spending at the national level do not adversely affect the environment and public health, or disproportionally harm disadvantaged communities.

Chemicals

The EPA is asking Congress for $56 million for chemical assessment and risk review. Another $29 million (including $15 million in grants funding) will go toward eliminated childhood lead poisoning, and $6 million to support national efforts to mitigate exposure to high-risk legacy chemicals, such as mercury and asbestos.

Enviro justice

The budget contains $8 million for environmental justice programs. It targets increased brownfields investments to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, and proposes $9 million for community water priorities in the Healthy Communities Initiative, funds that will help under-served communities restore urban waterways and address water quality challenges. The EPA is committed to identifying and addressing the health and environmental burdens faced by communities disproportionately impacted by pollution.

http://www.pollutionengineering.com/Articles/Industry_News/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000749368

 JAY SAYS

Dear Reader,

As we head into State of The Union season this winter, it is abundantly clear that the U.S. economy is in need of critical policy attention.  More than five years into the current economic recovery, there is still a market disconnect between declining economic opportunities for America's middle class (and those aspiring to join those ranks) and the policy realm, which has either ignored this deteriorating situation or even exacerbated it.

Serious economic challenges exist at the personal level for middle class Americans and at the macroeconomic level in communities accross the country.  Personal economic anxieties played a significant role in the last fall's congressional election.  A close look at recent economic data shows that the typical American faces real economic insecurities, shrinking job opportunities, declining upward mobility and a growing inability to save and accumulate wealth.  In addition, our nation's large and rising foreign debt - much of which grows out of an unsustainable federal budget deficit - exacerbates these insecurities and threatens future improvements in most Americans' standart of living.

Let's hope for some form of a robust recovery in the next calendar year.