Italwanson develop the first recuperative thermal oxidizers
Every Donau Carbon Technologies project starts with a question, not a proposal. Problem first, technology second. Analysis of real emissions, operational constraints and local regulations first, solution second.
It is a method built over 40 years of work on real plants, across different sectors, in more than 50 countries. Five principles define this method and guide every technical decision.
Donau Carbon Technologies diagnoses VOC emissions as engineering problems, not bureaucratic practices to be filed away. Every plant is designed to turn a cost into a resource: solvent recovery plants condense vapour effluents and return pure solvent directly to the production process.When recovery is not possible, thermal oxidisers destroy odours and VOCs while generating steam or thermal oil. The result is not a performance certificate: it is a measurable line in the client's balance sheet.
The difference between a plant supplier and a technology partner lies in the depth of know-how. Donau Carbon Technologies holds proprietary patents on VOC technologies developed since 1981, including the X-CSR patent for nitrogen and vacuum regeneration.Solvent recovery, thermal oxidation, scrubbers, bag filters, heat recovery boilers, rotor concentrators: every technology has been developed to respond to specific industrial conditions. This is an expertise we can draw on.
In the VOC sector, it is common to design a plant and then verify its compliance. Donau Carbon Technologies reverses the order: regulatory requirements local, European, international, enter the project from the first line of calculation. LEL sensors, PLCs, remote monitoring, safety systems: these are not add-ons but components of the architecture. Every piece of equipment, such as RTOs, SRUs, scrubbers, distillation columns, and compact N2 vacuum units, is custom-designed to meet applicable standards. A plant that is compliant from day one generates no technical or legal surprises.
Donau Carbon Technologies remains close to and by the side of its customers, offering remote monitoring, post-commissioning optimisation and bespoke local services supported by the Babcock Wanson Group maintenance network across Europe: this is not just a sales package, it is an operational philosophy. Because a VOC plant does not cease to require attention once it has been commissioned. The solvent mix changes, regulations change, and operating conditions change. Donau Carbon Technologies is there when that happens.
Every Donau Carbon Technologies project carries the experience accumulated across 900+ installed plants in flexible packaging, pharmaceutical, chemical, rubber, rotogravure, food, flavours and fragrancies, rendering and waste management. Not as a numerical reference, but as a concrete technical asset: solutions already tested, problems already encountered, mistakes already avoided.
The partnership with the Babcock Wanson Group extends this expertise beyond Donau Carbon Technologies's own boundaries with a sales and service network active across Europe, available to every client, on every project.
We exist to turn industrial emissions from a compliance problem into an engineering opportunity.
We design and build VOC treatment plants from solvent recovery to thermal oxidation, from complementary systems to after-sales services for the entire lifetime of the plant, with a single entry point to a specialised engineering team.
Our goal is to be the technical partner of choice for industrial companies that want to manage their emissions with expertise, precision and accountability across Europe and worldwide.
Plants
Global installed base (Group data). References in every sector.
Years of experience
From 1981 (Donau Carbon) to today. Vertical specialization VOC.
Our story is two journeys converging into one vision. Ours begins in 1981, when we were born as SIRI SpA — a name that would later become Donau Carbon, then Donau Carbon Technologies, each chapter deepening our expertise in treating VOC emissions: our first solvent recovery plant in 1983, our first RTO in 1994, the X-CSR patent in 2018. Not far away, another story was unfolding: in 1980, Italwanson pioneered the first recuperative thermal oxidizers, joined Babcock Wanson in 1992, brought Italy its first regenerative thermal oxidizer in 1993, and broke new ground with the Rotoconcentrator in 1995. Plant after plant, patent after patent, both paths advanced independently — until 2022, when Donau Carbon Technologies joined the Babcock Wanson Group, and 2026, when it became the Group's leading brand for all emission treatment solutions. A new dimension, the same technical identity.
The Babcock Wanson Group was founded in 2022 and is today one of the leading international providers of industrial heating and emission treatment solutions. With almost 500 thermal oxidisers installed worldwide and operating subsidiaries across Europe, the Group brings to Donau Carbon Technologies a scale and geographic coverage that no independent player can match.
Donau Carbon Technologies brings to the Group solvent recovery and the patented X-CSR technology. Together, we cover the full value chain in VOC emission treatment: from design to commissioning, through to long-term maintenance.