Effective gas scrubbing solutions are essential for sustainable chemical manufacturing, environmental responsibility and regulatory compliance. GEA scrubbers are backed on decades of engineering that meets the highest standards of performance, reliability and flexibility, serving some of the most demanding applications in the chemical industry around the world. We offer state-of-the-art technologies designed to remove gaseous pollutants, aerosols and particulate matter from industrial gas streams, enabling customers to reduce emissions, protect workers and enhance process safety.
The what and the how of GEA Scrubbers
GEA scrubbers are advanced gas cleaning systems that employ physical and chemical absorption, quenching, cooling and energy recovery as well as particulate matter removal to treat contaminated multi-polluted gas streams.
Our scrubbers come with several crucial advantages for chemical process environments. They feature robust construction using a variety of materials from thermoplastics and fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) to high-alloy stainless steel. Each chosen specifically for chemical resistance and long service life under aggressive conditions. Their design supports multiple scrubber types—jet scrubbers, submerged scrubbers, venturi scrubbers, absorption columns and bubble reaction columns—each tailored to every customer’s particular separation or process challenges.
Typical chemical industry applications include:
- Removal of acid gases (like SO2 or HCl) and VOCs.
- Capture of hazardous organic solvents, such as methanol and ethanol vapors.
- Cooling and quenching of high-temperature exhaust streams.
- Aerosol and fine particulate filtration.
- Emission control for processes like ethylene oxide production and catalyst regeneration.
GEA’s broad technological portfolio covers everything from simple single-purpose scrubbers to complex multi-stage systems designed for continuous operation under extreme fluctuations in gas composition and flow.
Close up of an Ethylene Oxide Conversion Unit delivered by GEA in 2021.
Real-World Success
We at GEA delight in solving the toughest scrubbing challenges, delivering both engineering precision and environmental responsibility, just as we did when our pharmaceutical client needed to remove methanol and ethanol from vapors with wildly fluctuating gas volumes (20–120 m³/h), under severe space constraints and with a stringent goal to minimize freshwater use. Our skilled engineers developed a compact three-stage scrubbing system incorporating active cooling, jet scrubber technology and a liquid-liquid heat exchanger that drastically reduced water consumption. Crafted from stainless steel and polypropylene, it balanced chemical resistance with robustness. Sophisticated instrumentation enabled tight operational control despite load swings. To top it all, the unit was engineered to fit millimeter by millimeter, the customer’s reduced available space. Since commissioning in late 2021, the system has operated reliably with minimal emissions and a slim footprint—truly embodying GEA’s holistic approach to sustainability and challenge mastery.
Our scrubbers bring also safety to workplaces, as when a French refinery customer needed an emergency safety scrubber compliant with EIGA standards for treating sulfur dioxide from an oxygen-enriched gas stream. GEA delivered an 8-meter-high custom plant capable of handling highly variable SO2 concentrations across gas flows from 60 to 400 m³/h. This system not only ensured daily environmental compliance but also safeguarded workers during emergency purges, ensuring not only tailored process design and impeccable project execution but protecting human lives.
On the other side of the world, our longstanding customer in Thailand benefited from a GEA scrubbing plant delivered in 2006 that converted ethylene oxide into ethylene glycol, significantly reducing emissions. When the Thai government tightened EO exhaust limits in 2024, the plant needed no modifications —the original GEA plant already exceeded new standards. Our customer was so satisfied, they ordered a second plant with nearly identical footprint but adjusted flow and concentration conditions, engineered through advanced process simulations, precisely mirroring operational reality at commissioning. This legacy of innovation and foresight exemplifies GEA’s timeless dedication to engineering excellence.
An emergency safety scrubber compliant with EIGA standards for treating sulfur dioxide from an oxygen-enriched gas stream. Delivered by GEA for a refinery customer.
A cornerstone for success: GEA Testing Capabilities
At GEA, we understand that each process is unique—operating conditions vary and challenges evolve. That’s why we invest in pilot testing and process validation to optimize scrubber design before full-scale implementation. Our testing capabilities reduce investment risk, improve plant performance and enhance economic viability.
With dedicated pilot scrubbers and pilot plants, we analyze gas cleaning processes in detail, using advanced instrumentation for real-time chemical and physical monitoring, capturing critical data on gas composition, flow stability, absorption efficiency and potential fouling tendencies. This continuous feedback allows us to fine-tune design parameters and operational control strategies tailored to our customers’ needs.
GEA’s testing expertise extends across lab-scale trials, pilot demonstrations and direct customer support, providing a robust validation framework that gives our customers confidence that their scrubbers will not only meet but exceed anticipated performance targets under real industrial conditions.
Introducing the GEA Compact Pilot Scrubber
Our customized plants can only be as good as our pilot plants, that is why we focus on innovating in this area and are proud to present our Compact Pilot Scrubber 5-500. This compact pilot scrubber handles gas flows starting from 5 up to 500 m³/h and enables precise Process Analysis and Optimization Solutions, so that we often refer to this outstanding product simply as “PANOS”.
This compact pilot scrubber is engineered to meet the complex demands of modern chemical and industrial gas cleaning by offering:
- Rental availability for flexible, no-risk evaluation.
- Real-time sensing of flow, temperature, pressure, pH and conductivity.
- Adjustable washing stages and a pump with variable flow rates for dynamic process optimization.
- Integrated heat exchangers enabling scrubbing liquid cooling or preheating.
- Pre-assembled skid format for rapid deployment, anywhere.
The new GEA Compact Pilot Scrubber 5-500 “PANOS” – engineered to meet the complex demands of modern chemical and industrial gas cleaning