US-based maritime equipment provider EnSolve Biosystems has concluded sea trials of its EnScrub SOx scrubber water treatment system on-board an undisclosed vessel operating in the Baltic Region.
Installed in April this year, the system was able to discharge 97% of the sulfur oxides (SOx) scrubber water entering the system during closed-loop operation.
The system, which underwent DNV certification testing in August this year, sent the remaining 3% of sludge to a decanter for further dewatering.
EnSolve Biosystems CEO Jason Caplan said: “Because of the successful sea trial our scrubber client achieved DNV certification for their EGC System as well as the EnScrub system for this vessel.
“The incorporation of an EnScrub device into a SOx scrubber system provides our shipping customers a complete pollution abatement system that addresses regulated contaminants in the engine emissions as well as the scrubber water.”
The October 2016 ruling of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has mandated that ships use fuel that contains 0.5% of sulfur by 2020, against the existing 3.5%.
Unveiled in 2014, the EnScrub system is currently available for closed-loop, open-loop or hybrid applications.
The system, which was developed with funds partly provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF), US, treats particulates and petroleum hydrocarbons from the effluent of shipboard SOx scrubber systems.
According to EnSolve Biosystems SOx scrubber systems also help in removing sulfur oxides from engine emissions.
