Svante Carbon Capture and Removal HQ - Ecogate Installed in R&D Lab

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Customer

Svante Technologies – Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Global leader in carbon capture solutions

Challenge

Svante’s research and development laboratory is focused on designing, testing, and refining advanced carbon capture filters. The work involves dust-generating materials and requires strict control over air quality to:

• Keep experiments free from disturbance.

• Maintain safe minimum transport air velocities to prevent dust buildup.

• Reduce noise to levels acceptable for lab work.

• Minimize costly makeup air demand and overall energy use.

Conventional dust collection systems presented several problems:

• Noise: Running all collection points simultaneously created excessive background noise, disrupting sensitive experiments.

• Energy Waste: Fans and makeup air systems operated at full capacity, regardless of actual demand.

• Safety Risks: Manually closing collection points reduced airflow in ducts below safe transport velocity, allowing dust to settle and increasing fire, explosion, and contamination hazards.

Svante needed a solution that could meet stringent safety requirements, precise environmental control, and cost efficiency — all without interrupting research operations.

Industrial-scale Svante carbon capture process: assembled filters are installed in a circular rotating machine. As the machine spins, it absorbs CO₂ from industrial emissions or directly from the air.

Svante’s technology serves multiple CO₂-intensive sectors, including:

• Biogenic: pulp & paper, waste-to-energy

• Industrial: cement and steel

• Energy: power plants and refineries

The company’s operations include a demonstration plant with Chevron in California, a pilot plant at Lafarge’s cement facility in Richmond, BC, and a carbon capture filter manufacturing facility in Vancouver commissioned in May 2025.

Svante Carbon Capture and Removal headquarters, opened in May 2025 in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Solution

The dust collection system in Svante’s R&D lab was equipped with Ecogate's On-Demand Control System, with the greenBOX Nxt managing it. 

The system ensures that only active collection points are open, with fan speed automatically adjusted to match real-time airflow demand, all while maintaining minimum transport air velocities at all times.

Key Pieces

• greenBOX Nxt Control Unit: Manages up to 75 gates, starts and stops individual collection points, and adjusts fan speed automatically.

• Butterfly Smart Gates: Provide airtight sealing and airflow measurement; when equipped with Precision Airflow motors, they function as adjustable bleed gates.

• Movable Arms: Offer localized dust collection to minimize air draw from unused areas.

• Wall Switch Controls: Allow staff to independently start or stop dust collection for specific arms.

greenBOX Nxt control unit manages up to 75 gates, maintains minimum duct velocities, and operates bleed gates.

Ecogate Butterfly Gates with Precision Airflow Motors — when configured as adjustable bleed gates, they ensure consistent airflow regardless of active drop count.

Movable arm for localized dust collection at Svante.

Wall switch for individual dust collection control at each arm.

Why Dedicated Bleed Gates Matter

Maintaining proper duct velocity is essential to prevent dust settling and the hazards that follow. In many industrial environments, extra collection points can be opened to keep airflow high — but in a laboratory, this approach is unacceptable:

• Disturbs experiments with unplanned airflow.

• Increases HVAC load beyond capacity.

• Raises noise levels to unsuitable levels for lab work.

Ecogate’s adjustable bleed gates, the Precision Airflow Gates, solve this by maintaining airflow without impacting occupied spaces.

• With one drop active, the bleed is fully open to keep velocity up.

• As more drops open, the bleed partially closes to balance airflow.

Because these gates pull from outside the lab, they preserve room pressure control and prevent exhausting conditioned air.

Results

After installing Ecogate’s On-Demand Control System, Svante’s R&D lab achieved:

• Lower noise levels by operating only active points.

• Reduced HVAC equipment size due to lower peak makeup air demand.

• Lower HVAC energy use and reduced building thermal load.

• Safety compliance by maintaining minimum transport air velocity at all times.

In similar lab and pharmaceutical applications, Ecogate’s systems typically achieve a return on investment within just a few months, and Svante’s results are consistent with that performance.

Feature	Conventional Dust Collection	Dust Collection Equipped with Ecogate
Make-up Air Requirements	Requires full capacity for all dust-collecting drops, even when unused, which drives up HVAC demand and operating costs.	Significantly reduced — only needed for active drops, lowering peak load and HVAC system sizing requirements.
Air Removed from Building	Removes contaminated air that cannot be recirculated, requiring costly make-up air to replace all exhausted volume.	Only active drops exhaust air, dramatically reducing make-up air volume and cost; often delivers ROI within months.
Energy (Electricity) Usage	Runs dust collector fan and make-up air system at full capacity continuously, regardless of actual need.	Uses electricity only when active drops are open, lowering consumption for both the dust collector fan and make-up air system.
Noise Levels	High noise from many open drops operating simultaneously, which can disrupt sensitive work.	Significantly reduced noise — unused drops remain closed, keeping the lab quieter and improving working conditions.
Capital Expenses	Requires large, costly dust collection and make-up air systems sized for maximum simultaneous usage.	Systems can be sized for typical usage with reserve capacity for peaks, lowering upfront capital investment.

Example of a laboratory movable arm for dust collection.

Summary

Svante’s R&D lab required a dust collection system that could deliver precision, safety, and efficiency. Ecogate’s technology met these needs by:

• Reducing operational noise.

• Lowering HVAC and equipment costs.

• Preserving experimental conditions.

• Maintaining safe duct velocities at all times.

The result is a safer, quieter, and more energy-efficient workspace — with a rapid return on investment.

In addition to Svante’s R&D lab, Ecogate On-Demand Control Systems are installed at facilities for GlaxoSmithKline, Upsher-Smith, and Fortune Pharmacal in Hong Kong — delivering the same safety, energy, and noise-reduction benefits for laboratories and pharmaceutical environments.

If you’re designing or upgrading filtration for R&D labs or production areas, Ecogate offers a proven path to better performance with lower operating costs. Contact us to review your layout and get a tailored evaluation.