Sales of scrubbers, absorbers, biofliters, and adsorbers will exceed $6.8 billion in 2014.
This is the latest prediction in the McIlvaine report, Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets.
Absorbers will lead the way with revenues of $3.1 billion – 45% of the total. These devices are used for acid gas capture. SO2, HCl and other acid gases are generated when ores with sulphides are processed. They are also a result of a number of chemical processes. Municipal waste-to-energy power plants use either absorbers or dry scrubbers to capture the HCl created in the combustion of the plastics.
The cement industry is starting to purchase scrubbers to capture both HCl and SO2. New regulations in the U.S. are creating a significant market. However, other countries are also requiring cement plants to meet acid gas emission limits.
Adsorbers and biofilters are used for odour control and where the contaminant loadings are relatively low. Particulate scrubber sales are strong in the developing countries where they are a low cost alternative to either fabric filters or electrostatic precipitators.
The market is growing fastest in Asia due to the expansion of industrial activity but also to the retrofitting of existing power plants to meet recently enacted standards.
Scrubber sales 2014 ($ Millions)Subject 2014 Total 6,813 Absorber 3,112 Adsorber1,300 Biofilter 541 Dry Scrubber532 Other 259 Particulate1,069
