On our website, you will find information about one of Inproheat’s flagship products, The Smoke Dog Afterburner.
For new coffee roasters who are just learning about the process, there is a common question that comes up.
What is an Afterburner?
The basic function of an afterburner is to remove unwanted emissions and odors from a manufacturing operation.
Businesses use afterburners in a variety of industries – not just the coffee industry – to treat emissions through a process called thermal oxidization. It’s worth noting that an afterburner is also commonly referred to as a thermal oxidizer or a T.O. for short.
Coffee roasting produces dark and smoky emissions with a variety of pollutants, many of which – such as VOCs, CO2, NOx, and CO – harm the environment. As a result, these pollutants need proper treatment. Sometimes, these odors can negatively impact coffee roasters and neighboring businesses, which can result in coffee roasters closures due to violations of by-laws and local and state regulations.
An effective afterburner oxidizes the waste gases from roasting – using the combustion process to generate a much cleaner emission. In summary, an afterburner is a pollution control device that allows roasters to comply with environmental regulations without sacrificing the quality of their roast.
How do Afterburners work?
The basic principles of thermal oxidization are three Ts: Time, Temperature, and Turbulence.
Time is critical as pollutants must be held long enough in the combustion chamber to complete full combustion.
The second T – temperature – links directly to adequate smoke and odor removal. In order to achieve this temperature, a gas-fired burner is used. In most cases, coffee roasting smoke begins dissipating at approximately 800-900 degrees Fahrenheit inside the oxidizer. However, the complete oxidization of pungent coffee odor is more challenging and needs a minimum heat of 1250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lastly, the creation of good quality turbulence inside the combustion chamber is crucial. Increased turbulence improves mixing of the pollutants with the combustion air to generate the highest possible afterburner efficiency.
How does the Smoke Dog Afterburner help?
The Smoke Dog Afterburner from Inproheat offers coffee roasters – and those in other industries that require afterburners – a proven solution. Using an innovative design, the Smoke Dog delivers the three Ts of thermal oxidization with powerful efficiency.
First, each Smoke Dog model holds pollutants in the combustion chamber long enough for full removal. Our Artisan and Standard models offer an on/off control panel, making this process even simpler for roasters to operate.
Our afterburner models comply with California emission laws – among the strictest in the world. To keep that promise, The Smoke Dog models reach an internal heat of 1250 degrees Fahrenheit, thereby eliminating 99.9% of visible smoke and odor. Optional low NOx burners are also available on our models.
Finally, Inproheat afterburners optimize turbulence during the oxidization process, increasing the efficiency of the overall process. If that’s not enough, the newest Recuperative Smoke Dog afterburner with GreenCycle technology recovers heat while roasting – effectively increasing efficiency and lowering operating costs as a result.
The Smoke Dog afterburner is a must-have for today’s coffee roasters. It lives up to everything that an effective afterburner should be.
Interested in adopting your own Smoke Dog afterburner? Please contact our sales department.