Solving odour nuisance at a soap and detergent factory

This major fragrance company has a plant in northern France that specialises in producing scent for soaps and detergents.

The factory was originally designed to manufacture flavours. There was a scrubber in situ to treat air emissions, but as it was not needed, it was moved to another site.

However, after the loss of a key contract, the company reconfigured its factory to fulfil its new commission to produce fragrances.

This resulted in air emissions of odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which began causing complaints from neighbours and negative publicity in the local media.

Eager to restore good community relations, the company started to search for a solution for its odour issues.

Having met the company previously at exhibitions and trade fairs, DESOTEC was invited for a site visit.

There have been no further odour complaints from neighbours. No filter exchanges were required in the first year of operation, making it a cost-effective and hassle-free solution.

The client is so pleased with our solution that it agreed to install a DESOTEC pilot filter at its second site. This facility already has both a scrubber and a biofilter in place, but the client wanted a polishing step to bring down odours to below detectable levels.

Again, the results were excellent, and the client is satisfied that activated carbon is a viable solution for this site. It has also identified two further sites for pilot tests in 2024 or 2025.

The client has been impressed by DESOTEC’s responsiveness and flexibility, as well as the compactness and effectiveness of our solutions.

It will shortly discover whether or not the spent carbon from its filter can be reactivated, which would bring costs down and increase sustainability.

When the carbon is saturated, we will exchange the filter in a swift and simple process that requires no production downtime. Our technicians will transport the old unit to our facilities, where we will analyse carbon samples.

All adsorbed molecules will be destroyed in our furnaces, and the carbon reactivated if possible. This process is continuously monitored, ensuring that only harmless water vapour exits our chimneys.