Ecopure® VAR oxidisers are used worldwide in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. They are especially suitable for the purification of explosive exhaust gases and for the treatment of residual liquids. Dürr’s environmental and energy systems (EES) business unit has combined several different thermal, absorptive and adsorptive methods such as combustion, use of thermal energy and flue gas purification into a single system.
At its site in Saint-Vulbas, BASF Orgamol Pharma Solutions produces base materials for further processing in pharmaceutical facilities. Explosive exhaust gases and residual liquids that are produced in these processes contain substances such as halogenated hydrocarbons, sulfurous and nitrogen containing compounds.
As general contractor, Dürr EES delivered an Ecopure VAR oxidiser consisting of five process modules: a supply system for the different exhaust gases and residual liquids that complies with all safety requirements, a combustion chamber, an SNCR unit (selective non-catalytic reduction) for reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions, a waste heat steam boiler and a scrubber system for the removal of inorganic halogen and sulfur compounds from flue gas.
Most of the waste heat from the combustion chamber can be recovered with the steam boiler – this leads to a reduction of energy costs. The multi-stage flue gas scrubber guarantees reliable compliance with emission regulations. There is no need for separate treatment or the expensive disposal of any organic residual liquids.
The BASF Orgamol oxidiser system was completed in 2008 and BASF is one of several renowned companies that now have such abatement systems. Dürr has already installed this well-validated technology for Boehringer Ingelheim in Spain, for a big Swiss chemical group and at many other plants for customers in the chemical industry.
Currently, Dürr is building another VAR oxidiser for DSM Fine Chemicals in Austria (DFCA). The company is part of the Dutch DSM organisation and has a factory in the Linz Chemistry Park and a commercial office in Vienna. Core competencies of DFCA lie in the development of chemical processes and products and in the manufacture of organic intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry and plant protection products. Strategically the company focuses on the production to order of active pharmaceutical ingredients and agrochemical products. DFCA operates eight production plants at Linz and employs a total of around 950 people at its two locations.