Acetic Acid/Formic Acid: Acetic and/or Formic Acid can be readily scrubbed with water or dilute alkali solutions. The preferred choice will depend upon the concentration of the acid in the gas stream, the removal efficiency required, the value of recovered dilute acid, and the availability of cooling water or chilled liquids. Low flow intermittent releases of contaminant are more suited to simple once-through water systems. More often, however, recirculated alkali is the preferred method of treatment.
Although The Clean Air Group, LLC typically provides counter-current packed towers for very high removal performance our Jet Venturi Fume Scrubbers alone or in combination with our packed towers may be used. The combination multi-stage approach is particularly effective when high concentrations of acid are present and very low gas discharge levels must be achieved.
Fatty Acids: The odor of released fatty acid vapors can be a significant problem for many food product manufacturers. However, a counter-current packed tower sometimes combined with a first-stage Jet Venturi Scrubber is a very effective means of treating the odorous gas stream.
In many cases, a simple alkali such as sodium hydroxide solution may be used for scrubbing. In some cases, however, it is more practical and effective to use an oxidizing solution or even the same fatty acid liquid (at a significantly lower temperature than the gas) for efficient removal of the fatty acid vapors.