The generic combustor is a abatement system designed to eliminate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odours from production lines by thermal oxidation of polluting molecules.

Any type of volatile organic matter can be treated in gaseous form and, in the case of concentrations of pollutants above 1.5 g/Nm3, it is usually possible to go into self-sustaining mode reducing fuel consumption to almost zero.

A thermal oxidiser is an apparatus which aims to expose to high temperatures up to 650 ºC effluents containing pollutants by thermally oxidizing the compounds and releasing only inerts into the atmosphere.

The simplest type is that of pure combustor, where the fumes are burned and then released into the atmosphere. This process has a very high energy cost.

To recover heat and avoid waste, recoverable combustors are used in which, by means of a heat exchanger, a part of the heat produced can be reused.

A further improvement is obtained with the regenerative thermal combustor (RTO) in which the heat from the combustion chamber is transferred and retained in a special ceramic filling coming out of it. This heat is used to pre-heat the incoming polluted fumes in order to allow a reduction of the necessary energy.

The regenerative thermal oxidizer allows the oxidation of the VOCs by increasing the temperature of the polluted air beyond 750 ºC; at full capacity the heat produced by the exothermic oxidation reaction is sufficient to maintain the temperature of the combustion chamber to the desired value without the addition of auxiliary fuel (e.g. methane gas)thus minimising the costs of operating and operating the plant.