ENGINEERING & AEROSPACE


Why air emissions have moved into


A


sk most production managers what keeps them awake at night? The answer: ‘Air Emissions’ probably


won’t make the top fi ve. For many years, air pollution control was


viewed as a compliance exercise. Install the required equipment, meet the licence conditions and move on. That picture is changing, rapidly. From the conversations we’re having with


manufacturers across Ireland, there’s a noticeable shift in thinking. Air emissions are no longer viewed simply as an environmental issue; they’re increasingly being considered alongside production effi ciency, energy consumption and long-term operational reliability. Manufacturers are looking for solutions that not only achieve compliance but also support the wider performance of their business. Manufacturers all over Ireland are dealing with


much tighter environmental expectations. There is also increasing pressure to improve energy effi ciency and a growing need to demonstrate that environmental performance is being actively managed, rather than simply monitored. The revised Industrial Emissions Directive (IED 2.0) reinforces this direction, placing greater emphasis on Best Available Techniques (BAT), resource effi ciency and evidence-based environmental management. For many businesses, this means that air emissions are no longer solely the responsibility of the environmental department. They have become an engineering, production and commercial issue as well.


EVERY PROCESS CREATES A CHALLENGE


Whether producing pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, speciality chemicals, electronics or advanced materials, manufacturing inevitably generates process gases. Some contain volatile organic compounds


(VOCs). Others contain acid gases, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulphur compounds or odorous contaminants. While each process is different, manufacturers face a common challenge: treating these emissions reliably without compromising production.


This becomes particularly diffi cult where batch processes are involved. Emission rates can change


22 July/August 2026 Irish Manufacturing


dramatically within minutes, placing demands on equipment that was often designed around average conditions rather than peak loads. In many facilities, the biggest problem isn’t the chemistry. It’s variability.


COMPLIANCE IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY


Environmental permits remain essential, but manufacturers increasingly expect more from their abatement systems. They want predictable operation. Unexpected


shutdowns, excessive maintenance, corrosion, poor chemical utilisation or unstable process conditions all have a direct impact on productivity. A system that removes pollutants effi ciently but creates operational headaches is no longer considered a successful solution. This has considerably shifted the industry’s thinking from simply “installing a scrubber” towards understanding the entire process. • Where are emissions generated? • Can they be reduced before reaching the treatment system?


• Are peak emissions being managed correctly?


• Is heat available for recovery? • Can energy consumption be reduced without sacrifi cing performance? These questions are becoming just as


important as removal effi ciency.


ENGINEERING AROUND THE PROCESS


An Irish pharmaceutical manufacturing facility that we work with recently upgraded its waste gas treatment as part of a major process expansion. Rather than treating thermal oxidation and wet scrubbing as separate systems, the engineering solution integrated both technologies into a single process package. The installation treats approximately 300,000 m³/hour of process gases while removing VOCs (volatile organic compounds), nitrogen compounds, sulphur dioxide and chlorinated gases before discharge. Heat recovered from the thermal oxidiser is also reused within the process, improving overall energy effi ciency. At another pharmaceutical site, the challenge


was very different. The requirement centred on safely handling intermittent releases of hydrochloric acid from batch operations. A dedicated quench and packed tower scrubber were engineered to achieve extremely high HCl (hydrochloric acid) removal effi ciencies while coping with rapid changes in operating conditions. Although the technologies differed, both projects shared the same objective: designing around the manufacturing process, rather than forcing the process to fi t the equipment.


www.irish-manufacturing.com


the boardroom By Damien Connolly, Group Sales Director at ERG Air Pollution Control


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