Repurpose Caustic Wet Air Scrubbers with Ultra-S3
Hydrogen sulfide shows up in nearly every industrial and wastewater process, and it’s not a pollutant that can be managed casually. It’s lethal at concentrations as low as 0.01%, putting operations personnel at direct risk, and it doesn’t stay contained to a facility, drifting into neighboring communities as persistent odor complaints. One of the most common points of escape is the outlet of a wet air scrubber that’s no longer performing as it was designed to, often because the caustic chemistry it relies on requires constant feed-and-bleed just to keep up.
Ultra-S3® turns that existing, underperforming scrubber into an asset instead of a liability, without touching a single pipe or vessel. The process is straightforward: drain the existing scrubber, clean the sump and packed bed of accumulated sulfur, and refill the sump with Ultra-S3 and water. From there, the proprietary chemistry recirculates on its own, treating hydrogen sulfide continuously for 75 to 90 days before it needs to be replaced, with only occasional make-up water required to offset evaporation. No more constant chemical feed, and no more odors escaping to the outlet.
Because Ultra-S3 works within the scrubber a facility already has installed, there’s no capital expense, no re-engineering, and no new equipment. It’s simply a more effective, less demanding chemistry doing the same job the scrubber was built for.
Why Facilities Are Making the Switch
Repurposing a caustic wet air scrubber with Ultra-S3 delivers advantages that traditional scrubber chemistries, such as caustic soda, sodium hypochlorite, and hydrogen peroxide, simply can’t match:
- More efficient treatment. Facilities see better hydrogen sulfide destruction with Ultra-S3 than with caustic soda, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, or other commodity chemicals typically used in scrubbers.
- Long operating cycles. The chemistry regenerates and recirculates for 75 to 90 days per cycle, with only make-up water needed to balance evaporation, instead of constant chemical addition.
- Non-hazardous and biodegradable. Hazardous scrubber chemistries are replaced with Ultra-S3, a product that doesn’t carry the same handling, storage, or disposal burden.
- Lower operating costs. Facilities typically see operating cost (OPEX) savings of 10-30% compared to traditional wet scrubber chemistry, which must be continuously replenished.
- Zero capital expense. A facility’s existing scrubber infrastructure works with Ultra-S3 as-is. No modification is required, and no capital expense (CAPEX) is needed to get started.
Monitoring equipment and reading locations can also be specified to provide real-time hydrogen sulfide concentration measurements, helping confirm a facility is getting the full benefit of the chemistry once it’s in place.