Fume scrubbers are used to control chemical fumes that are problematic and cannot be released into the atmosphere. Examples include fumes from chemical storage, fumes from combustion and fumes from chemical processing.
In the case of exhaust fumes and combustion gases, dry scrubbers are specified because they are simpler than the wet variety and produce no wet sludge. They also have no space requirements so can be fabricated for any site.
A correctly sized and specified fume scrubber can remove >99% of fumes in a single or multi-stage treatment process. Whether you need a single or multi-stage solution depends on your activities and what types of fume you produce.
Dry scrubbers
- Ideal for removing VOCs
- Supports ventilation systems
- Single and dual bed media
- Suitable for all industrial exhausts
- Fumes are neutralised internally with no waste
Dry scrubbers are composed of a vessel with an air flow inlet and outlet. Contaminated air enters the vessel and is pushed through a media bed.
Dry scrubbers work through adsorption; when contaminated air passes through the media, certain gases react chemically with the media and stick to it.
The dry media bed can be specified with activated carbon, impregnated carbon, oxidising alumina media or hybrid media. These remove different fumes. For example, activated carbon will scrub VOCs, impregnated carbon will remove ammonia, and oxidising alumina media will target aldehydes and oxidisable contaminants.
The vessel design, in addition to the porosity and large surface area of the media, ensures outstanding adsorption efficiency.
How dry scrubbers are used
Because there are so many media arrangements available to us, dry fume scrubbers are capable of controlling most gases in air streams including VOCs, CO2, chlorine, chloramine, tannins, phenol, hydrogen sulphide and siloxanes.
Dry fume scrubbers can be used as a single treatment to control exhaust gases from incinerators, furnaces, boilers and chemical processing tanks without collecting a wet sludge. They can be used as an alternative to wet scrubbers in some applications, although they are not direct competitors for fume control.
Dry scrubbers handle gas streams at relatively high temperatures making them ideal for cleaning exhaust streams and removing acidic gases. The highly porous structure of the media provides a large surface area for the contaminants to collect.
Sometimes, a dry scrubber will be used in a multi-stage treatment downstream of wet scrubbing to remove dust and acidic gases. This is necessary when contaminated air is very saturated with heavy chemicals and harmful fumes.
Find out more about fume control
At PDFL, we can provide a standalone carbon scrubber or a scrubber as part of a multi-stage process to suit any process requirement. Vessels can be manufactured to suit a deep bed, annular or dual bed media arrangement for any air flow rate.
We offer a turn-key solution, including design, fabrication, installation and maintenance, so that your fume scrubber delivers optimal results.
We would be happy to discuss how our systems can solve your fume problems. Call us on +44 (0)1922 418005 today or email sales@pdfl.uk.
