Abstract: A spray dryer absorber (8) is operative for removing gaseous pollutants from a hot process gas and comprises a spray dryer chamber (12) and a plurality of dispersers (14, 16, 18, 20) mounted at a roof (22) of the spray dryer chamber (12), each such disperser (14, 16, 18, 20) being operative for dispersing a portion of the hot process gas around a respective atomizer (24). Said plurality of dispersers (14, 16, 18, 20) comprises a central disperser (20), which is located at the centre (C) of the roof (22) of the spray dryer chamber (12), and at least 3 peripheral dispersers (14, 16, 18) surrounding the central disperser (20), each of said peripheral dispersers (14, 16, 18) being located at substantially the same distance (D) from the periphery (P) of the spray dryer chamber (12).