emissions
Shipyards are lined up to support the installation of Wärtsilä SOx scrubbers; illustrated is a system arranged alongside the funnel of a Neste product tanker
Yard deal supports scrubber projects
An agreement with Finnish and Dutch yards will facilitate the installation of Wärtsilä scrubbers in a wider market. BLRT group yards at Klaipeda, Tallinn and Turku and Shipdock yards at Harlingen and Amsterdam are now able to offer design, engineering, installation and commissioning services to support customers specifying the SOx-reducing systems. Significantly reduced installation times are promised by applying planning and strong project management and providing prefabricated parts. “Wärtsilä is committed to offering a total
package that includes all sides of installing SOx abatement technology,” asserts Henk de Jong, Benelux Wärtsilä service unit director. Further
agreements with several more
yards in Northern Europe are planned by the Finnish group, which teamed up with Helsinki- based Metso Corp in 2005 to develop a marine scrubber. A prototype of the Wärtsilä SOx scrubber was successfully tested on the Finnish product tanker Suula from 2008 to 2010, the first commercial order following soon after completion of the trials. In this fresh water system, an alkaline solution of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is circulated in a closed loop to wash the exhaust gases, the sulphur oxides dissolving in the wash-water and neutralised by the caustic soda. The pH of the water is increased to the point where the water itself reacts with the SOx to form sulphates.
Scrubbers or low sulphur fuel?
The results of a study intended to help ship operators decide whether to switch to low sulphur fuels in Emission Control Areas or install a scrubber and continue burning high sulphur heavy fuel oil are available for free download (
www.socp.us).
The guide was developed by Seattle-based naval architects Glosten and Associates in
www.mpropulsion.com
conjunction with the Washington, DC-based Ship Operators Co-operative
Program
(SOCP), with the financial support of SOCP and MARAD.
It aims to help operators understand emission requirements, calculate potential costs and assess the technical and operational challenges of various scrubber technologies.
Sections summarise the pros and cons of the different technologies, and an extensive appendix provides manufacturers’ technical details of their systems. SOCP members can log in at the website to access the guide while non-members need to e-mail a request. MP
Acknowledgement: ABS Marine Propulsion I February/March 2012 I 103
Particulates, oil and other materials trapped in the waste water are removed in an emulsion- breaking, flotation-type cleaning system, and the cleaned water containing the sulphates is released to the sea. Since sea water already contains sulphates, and the pH of the waste water is close to the average for the natural environment, the discharge meets the IMO’s wash-water guidelines.
A small bleed-off continuously extracted from the closed loop is cleaned of any impurities for safe discharge overboard or, in special cases, for
transfer to a holding tank. SOx in the exhaust gases is thus effectively neutralised into harmless sulphates that occur naturally in sea water.
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