Packed Bed Scrubbers
Packed bed or packed tower scrubbers are chambers which contain one or more layers of packing material to increase gas-liquid contact, such as Raschig rings, spiral rings, or Berl saddles. Gas streams enter in the bottom of the chamber and flow upward (countercurrent) or horizontally (cross-flow) through the packing as scrubbing liquid is distributed uniformly to the packing material. Once through the packing, cleaned gas passes through a mist eliminator while the waste liquid/slurry falls to the bottom by gravity. Some packed towers designed for
Packed bed scrubbers are primarily gas absorbers and are the most effective scrubbers for treating gas streams with gaseous pollutants. They can collect solids, but are not often used for this purpose because wet dust collecting in the beds would require unreasonable maintenance.