Wet scrubbers are available in packed tower, fluidised bed and venturi formats.

Packed tower scrubbers remove contaminants from the gas stream by passing it through a packed structure that provides a large wetted surface area where the gas and the scrubbing liquor react.

Packed towers can also be used for air stripping to remove dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia from aqueous liquors. They can also remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water.

Fluidised bed scrubbers use two or more shallow beds, and hollow ellipsoids, which are fluidised by the gas stream. This makes it relatively fast-moving when compared to the velocity of a packed tower scrubber.

Venturi scrubbers are most effective for the removal of particulates from a gas stream, even down to sub-micron size. The scrubbing liquor and gas stream react within the venturi throat forcing the particulates into the atomised liquor.