Abatement of volatile organic compounds in industrial bakery plants, a state-of-the-art analysis and technical-economic evaluation for a plant in northern Italy

Abstract The release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment considerably contributes to air pollution. To reduce the amount of these pollutants in the atmosphere, it has been necessary to introduce strict government regulations. In the bakery industry specifically, great attention is paid to the abatement of ethyl alcohol emissions released from the cooking chambers of industrial ovens. To control these emissions, VOC abatement devices are adopted, generally based on thermal and non-thermal technologies. After a detailed review of the most common systems for VOC reduction, the different technologies were evaluated by means of a technical-economic feasibility study focusing on an industrial bakery plant located in northern Italy, to identify the optimal abatement technology, intended as the solution that reaches the best trade-off among the legislative, environmental and economic aspects. Based on these considerations, the suggested choice resulted being the vacuum ultraviolet module, because of its efficiency and economic convenience.