Wet air scrubbers: Benefits and Applications

Even a decade ago, sugar factories were a significant source of dust emissions. As a result of the increasing use of wet air scrubbers for removing dust from boiler flue gas, there have been such positive changes.

Utilising a wet air scrubber has many benefits. Scrubbers have one of the major and most beneficial advantages of preventing a wide variety of pollutants from entering the air through exhaust. A wet scrubber is a multifunctional air pollution control device compared to other air pollution control devices. They are capable of removing solids, mists, and gases at the same time as providing cooling. In addition to handling explosive gases and flammable gases safely, scrubbers are also capable of handling other gases. Because scrubbers can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, they can be used in almost any environment. Furthermore, wet scrubbers can remove pollutants of all kinds, including mercury and acidic gases that lead to acid rain.

The initial capital and maintenance costs of wet air scrubbers are lower, and they produce greater energy savings. Scrubbers are often considered to be among the cheapest SO2 pollution control options because of their low cost of installation and operation, particularly when accounting for the revenue generated from byproducts and emissions allowances. Recent developments in scrubber technology allow them to reduce costs by more than 30 percent. In addition, such wet air scrubbers have no moving parts inside. In this way, scrubbers can be more affordable to purchase and operate than other dust collectors, despite the additional cost of baghouse filter bags.   

Factory crushing rates remain problematic despite scrubbers’ effectiveness. Wet scrubbers reduce boiler steam output due to the fact that many of them are installed after boilers. As a result of blockages, the scrubber pressure drops as it passes through them. Additionally, droplet carryover reduces collection efficiency and wears the boiler by accumulating on it.

Improvements in scrubber structures were the driving force behind further research in this area. In order to better understand the flow processes occurring within a wet air scrubber and to evaluate the options for improving their characteristics, modelling and experimentation were conducted. As a result of this research project, the project developed an updated modelling code, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, a flow visualisation program, and scrubber design changes. With results like these, scrubbers are poised for renewed popularity: Implementing the recommended changes will lead to higher factory productivity and lower emissions.

In comparison to conventional wet scrubbers, multi-vortex scrubbers have a number of advantages. An eco-friendly, compact and more cost-effective alternative to other wet air scrubbers is the multi-vortex air scrubber. Wet air scrubbers that produce a multi-vortex mist have lower operating costs than regular wet air scrubbers due to this difference in efficiency. Multi-vortex wet air scrubbers use water or another cleaning fluid to remove gases, dust, vapours, and other contaminants from the air. Water-saving wet air scrubbers have been introduced, including multi-vortex air scrubbers.