SH SULPHTEC GmbH has been producing and developing biological gas purification plants for the desulphurisation of biogas, sewage gas (WWTP) and landfill gas for 23 years. SH SULPHTEC is based in Nauen/Brandenburg, just at the border of the German capital Berlin. They participate in research projects to continuously improve the effectiveness of processes and to incorporate the results into our products.
SH SULPHTEC is active worldwide and supports plant operators, planners and plant constructors to find the optimal solution for a site. In doing so, the company can draw on four different biological desulphurization systems. Especially with a view to the future, economic solutions can be found for every requirement.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
SH SULPHTEC: The main field of activity is the biological desulphurisation of biogas, sewage gas and landfill gas. In most cases, we supply industrial biogas plants, e.g. in the waste water treatment of the paper industry, breweries or also in waste utilisation. This includes catering and food waste utilisation, large agricultural plants, but also the bioethanol and glucose industry. Our plants are used wherever biogases with a high H2S content are produced, which must be removed for process optimisation.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
SH SULPHTEC: Since this year, there has been a further development of our SulphPur® plant type. With a view to the orientation towards biomethane plants and the production of biofuels, we have developed our Sulph-EX® plant type for smaller to medium-sized agricultural biogas plants. This new plant type is characterised by the fact that it requires very little oxygen for the biological process and thus makes the gas ideally suited for further processing into biomethane or biofuels, while also being very resource-efficient and having only low operating costs.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
SH SULPHTEC: Our product range comprises a total of four system types. Firstly, the “Classic” plant type, which has been in production for 23 years and has been continuously developed. This is a classic biotricklebed reactor that we have meanwhile optimised to such an extent that it almost completely eliminates the risk of blockage typical of this type of desulphurisation. In addition, we use fillers in this system that we have optimised for precisely this process and manufacture ourselves.
The second type of system, which is now the most frequently produced, is the SulphPur® system. The SulphPur® system type has been on the market since 2012 and is characterised by the fact that it requires up to 90% less water and up to 80% less energy for the desulphurisation process than the Classic system. In addition, and this is very important, the SulphPur system gets by with very little oxygen and we can guarantee an oxygen content in the clean gas of <0.2% with this system.
The third product is the Sulph-EX® system mentioned above. It works in exactly the same way as the SulphPur® variant, but is designed for smaller plant sizes, up to an H2S accumulation of up to 15 kg per day. The Sulph-EX can also guarantee an oxygen content <0.2% in the clean gas.
The fourth type of system we offer is the S-KAT®. The S-KAT® is a favorable alternative to the use of activated carbon for small agricultural biogas plants. For biogas with a H2S content of up to 200 ppm, the S-KAT® has annual operating costs of approx. 200 euros for a relatively low investment, which is below the cost of activated carbon filtration.
Another mainstay of SH SULPHTEC is the production and distribution of optimised packing for biological desulphurisation plants and wastewater treatment.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
SH SULPHTEC: We see the market as growing and expanding into new areas. More and more emphasis is being placed on alternative decentralised and environmentally friendly energy supply. In addition, there is the use of waste as a raw material for energy generation. It is also becoming increasingly important to optimise existing processes in an environmentally friendly and resource-saving way. We at SH SULPHTEC can make a not inconsiderable contribution to this and regard it as one of our central philosophies.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
SH SULPHTEC: As already mentioned, the trend is clearly towards resource-saving systems with a focus on the environment, but without losing sight of the operating costs. Finding the perfect way is a challenge that we gladly take on every day. And we are convinced that we can already meet the requirements of the trends. It is important to be flexible and to respond to the individual demands and wishes of our customers and the market. We have been doing this for many years and our customers have made a not inconsiderable contribution to the further development of our products.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
SH SULPHTEC: The most innovative products in our portfolio are certainly the SulphPur® and Sulph-EX® plants. We are the only manufacturer of this type of plant and thus, due to the low O2 requirement, make the biological desulphurisation of gases interesting when processing them into biomethane and biofuel. Especially as it is a process that requires very little care and maintenance and is still reliable and therefore has very low operating costs.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
SH SULPHTEC: It is already clear that 2021 will be the most successful year in our company’s history. We are currently fully booked for the next 9 months. This shows us that we are doing a lot of things right and that word is getting out in the industry about what we are capable of. But that does not mean that we are resting on our laurels. On the contrary, it motivates us even more to continuously develop ourselves and our systems to make our customers more successful.
