Messer Supports Water Management, Waste Gas Purification And Energy Management With Innovative Gas Technologies

Messer, the world’s largest privately held specialist for industrial, medical, electronics and specialty gases, will present innovative gas applications for sustainable water treatment, waste gas purification and efficient energy management at IFAT 2026 (Hall A3, Stand 519). The company not only supplies the gases these applications require – such as oxygen, nitrogen and recovered carbon dioxide – but also helps users with tailor-made solutions and comprehensive expertise. Messer’s offering extends from the precise analysis of the initial conditions to engineering, and all the way to the optimization of the application in practice.

Water treatment with pure oxygen
In wastewater treatment plants, the efficiency of biological stages is highly dependent on the ambient temperature, because warmer temperatures reduce the solubility of oxygen in water. The resulting reduction in the aeration system’s oxygen injection reduces, in turn, the efficiency of contaminant degradation. Moreover, the volume of wastewater streams in industrial processes, such as those in paper mills, is often subject to extreme swings. An increase in production can also rapidly push existing capacities to their limits. Messer offers several proven technical solutions under the brand BIOX to handle peak loads or rapid capacity expansion. They inject additional pure oxygen into the biological stage – oxygen that is optimally distributed in the form of micro bubbles by hose mats or injectors. This pure oxygen improves living conditions for the bacteria, which in turn raises their contaminant degradation performance. And that shortens throughput times and reduces foaming and odors. The installation is simple and also possible during normal operation.

Ozonation for the fourth treatment stage
In the fourth treatment stage of a wastewater treatment plant, ozone can significantly increase process efficiency: this highly reactive gas can act very rapidly to break down complex molecules such as pharmaceutical residues, for example, facilitating their degradation. It leaves largely biodegradable reaction products behind, which are then easily removed from the wastewater in a downstream filtration stage. The process is efficient and reliable: the required ozone can be produced on site from oxygen, integration into existing systems is easy, and maintenance costs are minimal. Here, too, Messer offers complete solutions ranging from needs assessment to the start-up of the ozone generation and injection systems.

Wastewater neutralization with recovered CO_₂
Many industrial processes generate large volumes of alkaline wastewater, notably in the construction industry. To comply reliably with strict regulations governing the discharge of treated wastewater into sewage systems, its pH must be in the neutral range. CO_₂ presents an environmentally friendly and economical solution here. This gas is generated as a byproduct in industrial processes such as hydrogen or bioethanol production. In specialized plants, Messer can recover, purify, liquefy and recycle it. When dissolved in water, CO_₂ forms carbonic acid, which is an environmentally friendly alternative to more commonly used mineral acids. Other benefits: the salt load of wastewater is not increased, the safety of workers is enhanced and the corrosion of plant components is prevented.

Waste gas purification with nitrogen cooling
Many industrial processes release gaseous substances that can be harmful or even toxic. These include, for example, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are found in high concentrations in waste gas streams from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The DuoCondex process from Messer is an effective solution for capturing gases and vapors released in this way: the waste gas flows through cryogenic condensers cooled with cryogenic gaseous nitrogen. The extreme cold liquefies the pollutants on the interior walls, making it possible to separate them out selectively and then dispose of them properly. This ensures reliable compliance with applicable regulations for emission control. The recovered solvents can even be returned to the process and reused.

Energy optimization with cryogenic gases
Gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and argon are usually supplied and stored in cryogenic liquid form. Before they can be used in the production process, they must be warmed up and vaporized – whereby their “cooling energy” is generally lost. Plants with processes that also need cooling can avoid this waste with the EcoVap vaporizer from Messer. Installed in the return line of a refrigerating installation, it transfers the cold energy of the liquefied gas directly to the surrounding cooling medium. This cooling effect reduces the load on existing electrically driven refrigerating installations considerably – reducing energy consumption and indirect greenhouse gas emissions as a result. In addition, there is no ice or fog formation around the air vaporizers.

Customer focus and applications expertise
Along with the needs-based supply of gases, Messer provides its customers with application-specific technologies. Application specialists leverage proven concepts and their comprehensive know-how to develop tailored solutions through close collaboration with customers. Pilot plants can be installed upon request to demonstrate the practical benefits under real operating conditions. The necessary equipment is designed for optimal performance across all operating conditions and implemented.