What Are the Potential Risks of Using a Combustion Gas Capture Device?

If you’ve spent any time in the industrial emissions space, you know that combustion gas capture devices are a cornerstone of responsible manufacturing, energy production, and waste management. As a supplier of these systems, I talk to plant managers, environmental engineers, and EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety) leads every week who are laser-focused on the benefits—cutting carbon footprints, reducing regulatory fines, unlocking carbon credit opportunities. Those are all critical, make no mistake. But lately, I’ve been fielding more questions about the risks: the unseen gotchas that can turn a well-intentioned investment into a operational headache, safety hazard, or compliance nightmare. Combustion Gas Capture Device

I don’t bring this up to scare anyone away from capture devices. Our company designs, builds, and maintains these systems, so we’re invested in our customers’ success as much as our own. But being transparent about potential risks is how we build trust—and that’s exactly what this post is for. Over the past 12 years in this industry, I’ve seen projects derail because teams ignored a key risk, or skipped a step in their pre-install assessment. Let’s break down the most significant risks, how they show up in real-world operations, and what you can do to mitigate them before they become problems.

Operational Risks: The Day-to-Day Headaches That Add Up

First, the risks that don’t make the evening news, but can sink a facility’s efficiency and budget over time. These are often the quietest, because they’re gradual, not catastrophic—until they’re not.

1. Inconsistent Capture Efficiency from Poor Site Compatibility

Here’s a mistake I see all the time: a plant orders a off-the-shelf capture device because it’s cheaper and faster to ship, only to find it works 60% of the time, but drops to 30% when their combustion process runs at variable loads. Combustion gas isn’t a one-size-fits-all. A boiler running at full capacity has gas with 15% oxygen, 4% carbon monoxide, and trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that shift when you dial production back 20%. Off-the-shelf devices are calibrated for a narrow window, not a site’s unique load profile.

Last year, I worked with a food processing plant that had installed a generic capture unit for their natural gas-fired ovens. They were missing out on 25% of their capture target, per their annual emissions audit, because the unit’s flow rate couldn’t adjust to the oven’s cycle—each batch produced a different volume of gas, and the generic device couldn’t keep up. The facility had to shut down for 10 days to rework the device’s inlet manifold, costing them $180,000 in lost production. That’s a avoidable risk if you test your gas profile before choosing a device.

2. Fouling and Clogging That Triggers Unplanned Downtime

Combustion gas isn’t just CO2 and heat—it’s full of particulate matter, heavy metals, and condensable compounds. For example, a steel mill’s combustion gas has iron oxide dust; a chemical plant’s has sulfuric acid mist. If your capture device doesn’t have a robust filtration or pre-treatment step, those contaminants will stick to the device’s internal surfaces. Over time, that builds up into a layer of fouling that blocks gas flow, reduces heat transfer, and forces you to shut down the unit for cleaning.

We recently did a post-install audit for a refinery that had skipped a pre-treatment filter add-on. Within 18 months, their capture device’s heat exchangers were 40% clogged with carbon black and sulfur deposits. Each cleaning took 36 hours, and they had to do it twice a year—costing over $500,000 in downtime and maintenance parts. The worst part? If fouling gets bad enough, it can cause pressure imbalances in the combustion system, leading to incomplete combustion that actually increases overall emissions. That defeats the entire purpose of the device.

3. Excessive Energy Demand That Erodes ROI

Everyone loves the idea of capturing gas, but most people don’t realize that the capture process itself uses energy. To separate CO2 from other gases, you need to pressurize, cool, or strip the gas—all of which pull electricity or natural gas from your site. For small to mid-sized operations, this energy overhead can eat 10-15% of your total production energy budget.

Take a pulp and paper mill we worked with a few years back. They installed a capture device that delivered 90% capture efficiency, but their energy bill went up by 12% in the first year. When we ran a diagnostic, we found the device’s compression system was oversized for their gas volume—so it was running at full load even when the combustion process was low. We re-calibrated the compressor and added a variable frequency drive, cutting the energy demand by 35% without losing efficiency. The lesson here: don’t just look at upfront costs—calculate the lifetime energy use, and make sure the device is sized to match your operational load.

Safety Risks: The Underrecognized Hazards That Can Cause Harm

This is where I get really serious. Combustion gases are flammable, toxic, and under pressure—and capture devices, which are designed to concentrate these gases, can create dangerous conditions if not managed correctly. These are the risks that OSHA and EPA flag in their compliance guidelines, but that some teams overlook in the rush to go green.

1. Leakage of Toxic and Flammable Gases

Captured gas isn’t harmless. Depending on your combustion process, it can contain high levels of carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, or unburned hydrocarbons—all of which are toxic in high concentrations, and many of which are flammable in the right mix. A small leak in a pipe flange, a faulty seal on a pump, or a cracked heat exchanger can create a hazard that’s hard to detect with standard sensors.

In 2021, a chemical plant in the Midwest had a small leak in their capture device’s CO2 storage line. It went undetected for 18 hours because their sensors were only calibrated for oxygen levels. When a maintenance worker opened the valve to check the line, he was exposed to 800 ppm of CO2—double the OSHA 8-hour limit—leading to a week of missed work for him, and a $12,000 OSHA fine for insufficient monitoring. The fix? We added multi-gas sensors to all our customers’ systems, designed to trigger alarms at 50% of OSHA’s limit for each toxic gas. That’s a non-negotiable safety step, not an extra expense.

2. Pressure Imbalances That Cause Catastrophic Failure

Capture systems operate at pressures ranging from low vacuum to 300 psi, depending on the technology. If the pressure in the capture device doesn’t match the pressure of the combustion system upstream or the storage line downstream, you can get a backflow of gas into the combustion chamber, or a rupture in the capture equipment. Both scenarios are dangerous.

A small power plant in the Southeast learned this the hard way in 2019. Their capture device’s pressure relief valve was incorrectly sized— it could only handle 100 psi, but their combustion process pushed 120 psi into the line. During a peak production run, the relief valve failed, sending a wave of unburned natural gas into the plant’s engine room. No one was hurt, but the explosion caused $2.3 million in damage, and the plant was offline for 6 weeks. The cause? They didn’t do a pressure compatibility test when installing the device. As a supplier, we include that test in every project now because it’s a basic safety requirement.

3. Asphyxiation Risks from Sequestered Gases

Here’s a risk that many people don’t even think about: when you capture CO2, you’re concentrating it into a storage tank or pipeline. CO2 is heavier than air, so if there’s a release in an enclosed space, it can sink to floor level and displace oxygen fast—leading to asphyxiation before anyone even notices. We’ve trained our team to drill this into every customer’s EHS program: before entering any area around the capture device’s storage tanks, you need a confined space entry permit, and you must test oxygen levels first.

Last year, a construction worker at a cement plant ignored that rule and entered a storage tank area without testing. A small leak had built up a 2-foot layer of CO2 near the floor, and he lost consciousness within 30 seconds. His coworker pulled him out, but it was a close call. The plant changed their entire entry procedure after that, which is a good example of how safety protocols can prevent tragedy.

Compliance Risks: The Regulatory Landmines That Cost Money

If you’re using industrial equipment, you’re subject to environmental and safety regulations—and capture devices don’t make those go away. In fact, they add new compliance requirements that, if missed, can lead to fines, operational restrictions, or even being barred from accessing carbon markets.

1. EPA Monitoring and Reporting Mandates

The EPA’s Clean Air Act and Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program require you to track not just your total emissions, but also the performance of your capture device. You need to log capture efficiency, gas composition, and maintenance activities on a monthly basis, and submit reports annually. If your device isn’t calibrated correctly, or if your logs are incomplete, you can face fines of up to $45,682 per day per violation.

I worked with a glass manufacturer a few years back that had a capture device for their natural gas furnaces. They didn’t know that the EPA requires continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) systems for capture devices that process over 100 tons of CO2 per year. They went two years without installing the CEM, and got a $2.1 million fine. The good news is that we retrofitted their device with the required CEM, and helped them set up a automated reporting system that cuts down on manual work. The bad news is that’s a preventable compliance risk if you check the regulations before you install.

2. Permitting for Modifications and Changes

If you change your combustion process at all—say, switching from coal to natural gas, or increasing production by 20%—you need to update your operating permit for the capture device. Many facilities assume that once they have the permit, they can make changes, but that’s not the case. Even a small change to the device’s flow rate or pressure can require a permit modification, which can take 6-12 weeks to get approved.

Last quarter, a food processing plant decided to add a second oven, increasing their gas volume by 25%. They didn’t update their permit, and when the state environmental agency did an audit, they were ordered to shut down the new oven and the capture device until the modification was approved. That cost them $300,000 in lost production in a single month. Now, we work with our customers’ environmental teams to map out permit requirements before any operational changes, so they can avoid that delay.

3. Carbon Credit Eligibility Risks

Many facilities use capture devices to qualify for carbon credits, but not all capture projects are eligible. The EPA’s Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) tax credits have strict rules around capture efficiency, measurement accuracy, and permanence. If your device doesn’t meet the criteria—say, it only captures 70% of CO2, not the required 75%—you can’t claim the credits, and you might have to pay back credits you already received.

We had a customer in the oil and gas sector who installed a capture device to qualify for Section 45Q credits. Their device was rated for 80% efficiency, but actual testing showed it was only 72% because of a leaky pipe. They lost out on $1.2 million in credits, and had to invest in upgrades to fix the leaks. That’s a compliance risk that’s specific to capture devices’ financial benefits, and it’s why we include third-party efficiency testing in every project to make sure our customers meet credit requirements.

Mitigation Strategies: How to Turn Risks into Opportunities

Now that I’ve laid out the risks, let’s talk about what you can do to avoid them. Over the years, we’ve developed a set of steps that every customer should follow when investing in a combustion gas capture device, and we build these into every project we take on.

First, do a pre-install gas profile audit. Before you choose a device, we test your combustion gas’s composition, flow rate, and variability over 2-4 weeks. That lets us build a device that’s tailored to your exact needs, not a generic one.

Second, add layered safety features. That means multi-gas sensors, sized pressure relief valves, regular leak testing protocols, and confined space training for your team. We include all of these in our system designs because they’re non-negotiable.

Third, invest in ongoing maintenance. Capture devices aren’t “set it and forget it.” We recommend quarterly inspections, annual efficiency tests, and a maintenance plan tailored to your facility’s needs. We also offer remote monitoring for our customers, so we can flag issues before they become failures.

Fourth, map compliance and financial requirements early. Before you install, we help you check EPA regulations, permit rules, and carbon credit eligibility. That way, you don’t get stuck with unexpected fines or lost revenue.

Wrapping Up: A Partner for Your Success

At the end of the day, combustion gas capture devices are a powerful tool for reducing emissions, saving money on energy, and accessing carbon markets—but they’re not without risk. The key is to go into the process with your eyes open, work with a supplier that prioritizes transparency over upsells, and build a plan that addresses both operational, safety, and compliance risks.

Our company has been supplying capture systems for over a decade, and we’ve seen every pitfall there is. We don’t just sell you a device—we help you audit your site, design a system that fits, train your team, and support you for the life of the equipment. If you’re thinking about adding a combustion gas capture device, or you’re struggling with an existing one that’s not performing, I’d be happy to walk through your specific needs and help you assess how to manage those risks.

Purification System Contact us today to discuss your project and explore the right combustion gas capture device for your operations.

References

OSHA. (2022). “Combustible Gas and Dust Safety Guidelines for Industrial Processes.” U.S. Department of Labor.
EPA. (2023). “Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program: Requirements for Carbon Capture Systems.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). (2021). “Standard for the Installation of Carbon Capture Equipment.” NFPA 850.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). (2022). “Energy Overhead in Industrial Carbon Capture Systems.” Report No. E22-01.

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