For decades, there have been concerns about the environmental distraction caused by industrial gases. In the UK, industries alone contribute more than 10% of the gas emissions. That’s why governments around the world have been passing regulations to control environmental pollution by companies. To comply with these laws and protect the environment, you’ll have to use chemical scrubbers.
Most gas scrubbers have an efficiency of over 90%, and the best ones will even go up to 99.9%. The efficiency will usually vary based on the scrubbing liquid and the type of absorber used. The installation and maintenance of the system will also determine how well it works.
How Do Gas Absorption Systems Work?
Industrial scrubbers can be placed in three categories based on how they function. These are countercurrent, cross-current, and co-current.
Countercurrent designs are the most widely used since they offer very high efficiency and work in accordance with the existing environmental regulations. Systems built with this technology can be designed with packed columns, tray columns, or open-spray columns.
Packed column systems consume less water and offer relatively higher removal efficiency. They’re also meant to handle high fluid velocity. If your business deals with corrosive materials like acids, packed column gas scrubbers would be ideal. That’s because the columns can be made with inexpensive corrosion-resistant materials like fiberglass. They’re also ideal for producing green ammonia and green hydrogen.
On the other hand, tray column vapor recovery systems are easier to maintain and can tolerate high temperature fluctuations. If you deal with large gas flows, you’ll find this method of syngas purification effective and cost-friendly.
Open-spray gas absorber systems have a very simple construction and are very easy to clean and maintain. The energy required to operate these systems is also extremely low.
Co-current vs Cross-Current Synthetic Gas Purification
Although these two types aren’t as commonly used as countercurrent chemical scrubbers, they’re still worth exploring. The key benefit of cross-flow systems is that they require the lowest liquid-gas ratios. Since they offer little contact time for absorption, you should only use them when dealing with highly soluble gases.
Similarly, co-current vapor recovery systems will only work efficiently if the pollutants have high solubility. Their efficiency will drop as the liquid flows to the lower sections of the systems. Some benefits of co-current systems are their low pressure losses and the fact that they don’t get flooded often.
Wrap Up
Producing clean fuel should be the priority of all companies. In addition to staying on the right side of the law, removing pollutants helps to protect the planet. When picking a gas absorber, you should consider your individual application, as well as the efficiency of the system.
