Reduce odor and NH3 emission: condensation of the carbonatation vapors*

At beet sugar production, vapors from first and second carbonatation contain a significant amount of odor components, NH3 and waste heat, which are normally directly released into the environment. Due to sustainability motivations, obligations regarding odor nuisance and expected stricter regulations regarding NH3 emission limits, Suiker Unie decided to take measures to reduce emission via the carbonatation vapors. During the 2015 beet campaign, pilot scale plant trials have been performed to investigate the effectiveness of indirect contact and direct contact condensation of these vapors. Based on this experimental work a two-stage gas scrubbing concept was designed: in the first stage main goal is condensing the vapors and reuse the heat of condensation to heat up limed juice, while the actual scrubbing takes place in the second scrubber. This two-stage gas scrubbing installation has been built at the Vierverlaten factory and was started up in the 2016 beet campaign. The background, pilot scale trials, concept of design and achieved reductions in odor and NH3 emission at industrial scale are discussed.

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Language: English

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