Topsoe’s sustainable SNOX emissions control technology enters the carbon black industry
Orion Engineered Carbons LLC has signed a contract for Topsoe’s sustainable flue gas cleaning technology, SNOX™. The solution will remove SOx, NOx and dust particles from tail gases at Orion’s carbon black plant in Ivanhoe, Louisiana, USA. It is the first time that SNOX™ is applied in the carbon black industry.
Since 2014, Orion has conducted in-depth analyses of the SNOX™ process, including investigative site visits to existing
Topsoe plants and testing the concept at one of Orion’s manufacturing facilities. In particular, Orion was convinced by
the second-to-none sustainability profile of SNOX™, which does not consume any reagents, apart from ammonia for
the NOx reduction, and does not consume any water. Other factors that played a major role in their selection were
the highest available energy efficiency and the very low emissions level that meets the stringent environmental
regulations.
The agreement with Orion includes engineering, license, proprietary equipment, spare parts, catalyst, and future
supervision tasks during commissioning and start-up, as well as service obligations during commercial operation. The
SNOX™ plant is scheduled to be in full commercial operation by April 2021.
The SNOX™ process removes sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates from flue gases. The sulfur is recovered
as sellable sulfuric acid and the nitrogen oxides are reduced to harmless free nitrogen. The process is based on
catalytic reactions and does not consume water or absorbents. Neither does it produce any waste.
The heat generated in the process can be reused to preheat air in Orion’s process which improves overall efficiency
and economics considerably.
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