Baton Rouge area - environment

wet gas scrubber

what does it do? 
Located at the Refinery’s Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Unit, the wet gas scrubber uses water to capture particles that would otherwise go into the atmosphere by mixing gas with water to remove the pollutants. As an added benefit, the scrubber also reduces emissions of sulfur dioxide and ammonia.

how does it work? 
High velocity jets add water to the gas coming from the Refinery’s CO furnaces, and the wet gas enters a separator drum. In the drum, the gas travels up, while the water carrying the pollutants travels down. On its way out of the stack, the “scrubbed” gas passes through a clean spray of water, which helps remove remaining solids, and then through a grid, which helps remove water droplets. Sensitive analyzers monitor the exiting gas to ensure the scrubbing process is working.

Some of the water is recirculated back to the wet gas scrubber to be used again. The rest of it is sent to the settling ponds where the pollutants from the water are removed or neutralized.