Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market is projected to expand from USD 54.99 Billion in 2025 to USD 77.61 Billion by 2031, achieving a CAGR of 5.91%. These systems consist of various technologies and equipment engineered to eliminate dangerous pollutants, including mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, from the exhaust streams of power generation facilities and industrial processes.

The rigorous enforcement of environmental regulations by governments globally acts as the primary market driver, compelling significant reductions in toxic emissions to meet air quality mandates. Additionally, the ongoing growth of thermal power generation and heavy industry in developing nations fuels the widespread implementation of these abatement technologies. As reported by the World Steel Association, global crude steel production hit approximately 1.88 billion tonnes in 2024, generating a consistent and substantial demand for effective industrial emission control solutions to handle the associated exhaust output.

Despite this strong demand, the market encounters a major obstacle due to the high capital expenditures and operational expenses involved in installing and maintaining complex scrubbing and filtration units. Small and medium-sized industrial operators often view the initial investment as prohibitive, which can impede the uptake of advanced treatment systems and delay regulatory compliance in cost-conscious regions. This financial hurdle frequently compels facilities to prolong the operational life of older, less efficient equipment rather than upgrading to modern, high-performance technologies.

Market Drivers

The enforcement of strict environmental regulations and emission standards acts as the main catalyst for the deployment of flue gas treatment systems. Governments are increasingly mandating lower thresholds for hazardous gases and particulate matter, forcing industrial facilities to modernize their filtration technologies to retain operating licenses and avoid penalties.

This regulatory pressure is especially intense in developed regions where health protocols are tightening to safeguard public welfare. For instance, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in its February 2024 'Final Rule to Strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter', reduced the primary annual PM2.5 standard from 12.0 to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. Such revisions necessitate the installation of advanced fabric filters and electrostatic precipitators, directly boosting market revenue for abatement technology providers.

In parallel, the rising global demand for thermal power generation upholds the critical need for denitrification and desulfurization systems, particularly in developing nations that prioritize energy security. Although there is a global shift toward renewable energy, gas and coal-fired plants remain vital for meeting baseload power requirements, requiring extensive infrastructure to mitigate their environmental impact. According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity demand is predicted to rise by approximately 4% in 2024, establishing a continuous need for dependable energy sources. To address this rising consumption, new fossil fuel capacity continues to be developed; the Global Energy Monitor's 'Boom and Bust Coal 2024' report from April 2024 indicates that the global coal fleet expanded by 2% in 2023, with 69.5 GW of new capacity commissioned.

Market Challenges

The substantial capital expenditure and significant operational costs required to install and maintain advanced filtration units represent a primary barrier to the growth of the flue gas treatment systems market. Industrial facilities must shoulder heavy upfront costs for complex scrubbing infrastructure, in addition to ongoing expenses for specialized labor, chemical reagents, and energy consumption. This financial burden often proves prohibitive for small and medium-sized operators lacking the liquidity to fund such extensive modernization projects. Consequently, many cost-sensitive facilities choose to extend the use of legacy equipment rather than upgrading to higher-performance technologies, which directly lowers the adoption rate of new systems.

This difficulty is further aggravated when key end-user industries face economic instability or oversupply, which restricts their capital budgets for environmental compliance projects. When profitability declines, manufacturers typically postpone non-core investments. For example, the World Cement Association reported in 2024 that the global cement sector faced a capacity surplus projected to reach nearly 1 billion tons. This massive excess capacity places severe pressure on profit margins for a major industrial consumer base, drastically limiting their financial capability to invest in expensive flue gas abatement solutions and hampering overall market momentum.

Market Trends

The integration of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies is rapidly reshaping the flue gas treatment landscape as industrial operators expand beyond traditional pollutant control to address decarbonization mandates. This trend involves coupling advanced filtration systems with carbon capture units to intercept CO2 emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as power generation, steel, and cement. Instead of merely removing nitrogen oxides or sulfur, modern treatment architectures are being redesigned to facilitate solid-sorbent or solvent-based capture processes, effectively converting exhaust streams into managed carbon resources. This shift is quantifiable; according to the Global CCS Institute's 'Global Status of CCS 2024' report from October 2024, the global pipeline of carbon capture projects grew to a cumulative capture capacity of 416 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), reflecting a 32% compound annual growth rate over the last seven years.

Simultaneously, the market is witnessing a distinct trend toward retrofitting aging infrastructure with hybrid treatment technologies to prolong asset operational life while meeting tighter emission limits. Faced with the regulatory hurdles and prohibitive costs of constructing new facilities, utilities and industrial plant owners are investing in comprehensive modernization projects that upgrade legacy combustion and filtration hardware. These retrofits often entail replacing outdated firing systems with low-NOx burners and installing advanced recirculation components to optimize flue gas composition for downstream treatment. This retrofitting activity generates substantial commercial value; as noted by Babcock & Wilcox in a March 2024 press release, the company secured a contract worth approximately $246 million to retrofit a 1,000-megawatt power plant with updated emission control and combustion systems, including new fans and burners.

Key Players Profiled in the Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market

• Clyde Bergemann Power Group
• Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems
• Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc.
• Clyde Bergemann Power Group
• STT Environ Corp
• Andritz AG
• Marsulex Environmental Technologies
• Bilfinger Engineering & Technologies Gmbh
• Chiyoda Corporation
• Ducon Technologies
• Fuel Tech Inc.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market, by Business Type:

• System
• Service

Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market, by Pollutant Control System:

• Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD)
• DeNOx Systems

Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market, by End-User:

• Power
• Chemical
• Petrochemical

Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Flue Gas Treatment Systems Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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