The term packed bed refers to a hollow tube or pipe filled with a specially engineered packing material, commonly utilized in air scrubbers. Packed beds are used to improve contact between different stages of a chemical reaction or another process that is similar, for example, distillation processes or air scrubbing. The purpose of a packed bed in an air scrubber is to perform absorption of exhaust gases, which are the main cause of air pollution, and air neutralization. The performance of a packed bed highly depends on the packing materials used and the flow of air through the bed.

Packing beds may be stuffed with various types of packing materials, including saddles and rings in a multitude of materials, like Raschig rings — short pieces of ceramic or metal tube; otherwise, a specifically designed structured packing may be used. Thin metal plates, that typically constitute structured packing, are placed in such a way that allows for the largest surface area for contact of different stages of a chemical process. Within a packing bed, the gas stream is forced to follow a path through the packing material.

Packing beds perform with great efficiency in various types of air scrubbers as they assist in removing a wide range of chemicals and contaminants such as acids, toxic gases, fumes, and odors in many industrial and municipal applications.

Some advantages of packed bed scrubbers include:

• the ability to perform operations in a highly corrosive atmosphere;
• high efficiencies of mass transfer;
• low capital cost;
• small space requirements compared to other types of air scrubbers.

However, packed bed scrubbers have certain disadvantages that potential customers need to keep in mind. Packed bed scrubbers are not ideal for particulate matter scrubbing, they are more adept to gas scrubbing. The bed may be clogged by high concentrations of particulate matter, and due to the nature of the packing bed, access and cleaning are more difficult when compared to other scrubber systems. Therefore the use of packed bed scrubbers is limited to streams with low loadings of dust. Once clogged, the cleaning of the packed material is not only difficult but also expensive.

When a common wet air scrubber often gets clogged, is expensive to use, or simply needs repairs, companies usually come to us. Our Scroiler™ is devoid of much-wet air scrubber drawbacks while operating at the same efficiency. Our reference list is available on the website: scroiler.com or if you have any questions, please contact us: info@optromix.com