Anyone have the Fire Department show up at the roastery?

[DirtyDave]

So many factors involved in answering this question.
The pollution components of coffee are different than those of wood cellulose.
Different roasters (drum vs air, large vs small) require lesser or greater afterburners etc etc.
CO2 will be present in the effluent regardless (A/B or no).
You will not discover that no afterburner is more desirable than using one.

[Coffee Forum]

[jimbo]

After thinking about the comparison I proposed, I realized the flaw in the comparison. They started building wood stoves with catalytic oxidizers, which clogged after a few years of use, and became useless. So then they designed them to recirculate the air in the firebox, thereby taking all the byproducts of combustion (smoke) and subjecting them to the heat in the combustion chamber multiple times, and when the temp is high enough in the combustion chamber it burns up more of the non-combusted gasses, and what leave's the chimney is supposedly much cleaner. same principle as the afterburner, only the wood stove uses its own heat to do the work. Too bad they cant figure out how to use the roaster's burners to burn off the gasses and voc's before they leave the roaster.
Hopefully in a year or so, I will be roasting and selling enough to warrant installing an afterburner. That would be a positive problem.
I did find this info, although I have not read through it all as of yet.
http://probatburns.com/pdfs/2009-Roa...esentation.pdf

[DirtyDave]

There are presently coffe roaster designs that CLAIM to be smokeless (they are not).
They constantly recirculate the hot air inside of the roaster (imparting the WORST flavors to the coffee).
There are coffee roasters that use only one burner, claiming optimal efficiency (yet their outlet stacks require constant cleaning signifying that their outlet temperatures are way too low to clean the effluent).
Catalytic afterburners require a supplemental burner to bring the outlet gas temperatures up to a temperature sufficient to "light-off" the catalytic element. They also require constant maintenance, and are remarkably fragile, making them a questionable solution.
They also get consumed, requiring replacement.
There are power burners that can take elevated inlet air temperatures, allowing for afterburner air to be safely (and cleanly) recirculated.
These burners are quite expensive (of course).
So guess what......no free lunch.
For the small to medium coffee roaster, the once through system w/afterburner is still the best solution (if not the most economical).

[coffeemessiah]

I hear ya Dave. Wish I could run it all on solar power! But its hard finding a used afternurner, even if I had the cash. Nothing on Ebay, Craigslist, multiple forums. I dont know if anyone has one for sale on here very recently. In the meantime I'll have to limp along......

[DirtyDave]

When we all have fusion reactors on our roofs, we'll laugh at the bad old days.
Hey, weren't we all supposed to have rocket packs by the year 2010?!

[paulc]

I had a guy come in last summer completely incensed that I was emitting so much smoke during a french roast. All I could do was shrug. It really does put out a lot of smoke and on calm days, I really do smoke up the neighborhood. I also get some comments about how good it smells too. Some customers have even come in because of it.

I don't like being such an environmental slob, but if my small city came to me with a requirement to stop, I'd have to shut down. I don't have $8500 and I doubt very much I ever will.

[DirtyDave]

All of us need to step up into the present/future.
It equates to running a 1958 Thunderbird as an everyday driver.
Too much polution is good for no one.
Please figure out how to build pollution control into your business model.

[paulc]

It is part of my business model, right after I pay my baristas, which is after I pay my rent, which is after I buy green beens, which is after I get a new espresso machine, all of which will be after I buy a box of smoothie straws and a few rolls of toilet paper. Yes, it is low on my priorities and I am an insensitive environmental slob that hates himself because of it. But it is a reality. So, once a week, I smoke up the neighborhood. The alternative is to permanently close my door. I probably have a few customers that wouldn't mind, Starbucks is a block away. A few neighbors probably wouldn't mind either. However, I have a lot of customers that would mind. I also rather suspect that as a coffee shop owner, I'm in the majority. Can you believe this rant? After all, I'm a Democrat. I hug trees, I don't burn 'em.