EO Gas Treatment with High-Efficiency Packed Bed Scrubber
To further reduce ethylene oxide (EO) emissions from an existing gas treatment installation, Trevi designed and supplied a compact packed bed scrubber as an additional treatment stage. By integrating proven scrubbing technologies into one coherent system, exceptionally high removal efficiencies were achieved while maintaining safe, reliable and continuous operation.
Challenge
An existing gas treatment installation required an upgrade to further reduce ethylene oxide emissions. While the current ejector scrubber already handled a large part of the load, trace amounts of EO remained in the off-gas. The objective was to add a second treatment stage that could reliably capture these residual emissions, without disrupting the existing process or compromising safety in a potentially explosive environment.
Solution
Trevi developed a compact second treatment stage that integrates seamlessly with the existing gas scrubbing system. The solution builds on a packed bed scrubber concept, designed to capture the remaining traces of ethylene oxide after the initial treatment step.
By combining both stages into one coherent system, the installation achieves a very high overall removal efficiency without requiring major modifications to the existing setup. The design ensures stable operation under varying conditions and makes optimal use of the available process conditions on site.
Specific attention was paid to safe operation in a potentially explosive environment. The installation is therefore designed to operate under controlled, continuously wet conditions, supported by appropriate instrumentation and safety measures.
The system is further designed with reliability and continuity in mind, allowing uninterrupted operation and straightforward integration into the existing process.
Result
The combined system achieves a very high overall removal efficiency of approximately 99.991%, ensuring that residual ethylene oxide emissions are effectively captured.
The upgrade allows emissions to be further reduced while preserving the existing infrastructure and operating principles. The installation continues to run in a stable and predictable way, even under varying conditions, and fits seamlessly into the broader process environment.
