Academia Navala"Mircea Cel Batran": Optimizarea Functionarii Instalatiilor Auxiliare de Bord
Academia Navala"Mircea Cel Batran": Optimizarea Functionarii Instalatiilor Auxiliare de Bord
Academia Navala"Mircea Cel Batran": Optimizarea Functionarii Instalatiilor Auxiliare de Bord
CEL BATRAN"
OPTIMIZAREA FUNCTIONARII
INSTALATIILOR AUXILIARE DE BORD
Indrumator:
Student:
GRUPA
Prezentare nava de referinta:
Invasive Aquatic Species in ship’s ballast water is one of the biggest problems faced
by the shipping industry. Posing a great threat to the marine ecosystem, these aquatic
species has led to an increase in bio-invasion at an alarming rate. Under
IMO’s “International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast
Water and Sediments”, implementation of ballast water management plan and ballast
water treatment system on board ships has thus become important.
In order to ensure their ships comply with the rules and regulations set by IMO
regarding Ballast Water Management, several shipping operators have started
implementing ballast water treatment systems on their ships.
A variety of technologies are available in the market for treating ballast water on
ships. However, constraints such as availability of space, cost of implementation, and
level of environmental friendliness play an important role in usage of a particular type of
ballast water treatment system.
A number of factors are taken into account for choosing a ballast water treatment
system for a ship. Some of the main factors taken into consideration are –
Ship Deballasting
The main types of ballast water treatment technologies available in the market are:
Filtration Systems (physical)
Chemical Disinfection ( oxidizing and non-oxidizing biocides)
Ultra-violet treatment
Deoxygenation treatment
Heat (thermal treatment)
Acoustic (cavitation treatment)
Electric pulse/pulse plasma systems
Magnetic Field Treatment
UV System
Image Credits: degremont-technologies.com
Deoxygenation
Note: It generally takes approximately 2-4 days for the inert gas to asphyxiate the
organisms. Thus, this method is usually not suitable for ships having short transit time.
Moreover, such type of systems can be used on ships with perfectly sealed ballast
tanks. If a ship is already installed with an inert gas system, then a deoxygenation
system will not require more space on board ships.
Heat Treatment
This treatment involves heating the ballast water to reach a temperature that will kill the
organisms. A separate heating system can be utilized to heat the ballast water in the
tanks or the ballast water can be used to cool the ship’s engine, thus disinfecting the
organisms from the heat acquired from the engine. However, such treatment can take a
lot of time before the organisms become inactive and would also increase the corrosion
in the tanks.
Ultrasonic energy is used to produce high energy ultrasound to kill the cells of the
organisms in ballast water. Such high pressure ballast water cavitation techniques are
generally used in combination with other systems.
The electric pulse /plasma for ballast water treatment is still in the development stage.
In this system, short bursts of energy are used to kill the organisms in ballast water.
In the pulse electric field technology, two metal electrodes are used to produce energy
pulse in the ballast water at very high power density and pressure. This energy kills the
organisms in the water.
Most of the ballast water treatment system use 2-3 disinfectant methods together,
divided into different stages. A general ballast water treatment plant comprises of two
stages with one stage using physical separation while the second stage employing
some disinfectant technology. The choice of treatment system used in combination
depends on a variety of factors such as type of ship, space available on the ship, and
cost limitations as mentioned before.
Since May 2005, specific environmentally friendly MARPOL regulations have been in
force that stipulates that emissions from main and auxiliary machinery are kept within
specific limits. They require, for instance, reduction of sulphur oxide combinations
(SOx), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide combinations (NOx). At the MPEC
58th it was decided that exhaust gas treatment system is approved for reducing sulfur
(SOx) emissions from ships.
Some option available for reducing SOx emission today are: 1. switch fuel to a fuel with
low sulfur content, 2. switching to natural gas as a fuel and 3. introduce an exhaust gas
treatment plant, scrubber, which I intend to describe below.
Scrubber is a system that is designed to by the use of water wash the exhaust gases
from main, auxiliary and boilers to remove sulfur dioxide (SO2) which is a toxic gas, that
is directly harmful to human health. There different designs in the market today however
they could be divided into two categories, open and closed types. Power consumption
of operating a scrubber system is typically between 1-2% of main engine power.
Working Principal
Working Principle of Scrubber depends on type of Scrubber. Generally, Scrubber can be
defined as following catagories
General Working principle of wet Scrubbers
Open type Scrubber
The open type uses sea water to wash the exhaust gases. The wash water is then treated and
discharged back to sea, with the natural chemical composition of the seawater being used to
neutralize the results of SO2removal. Open seawater typically systems use 45m3/MW h for
scrubbing.
Closed type Scrubber
The closed type uses fresh water in “closed” fresh water circuit that is treated with an
alkaline chemical such as caustic soda neutralization and scrubbing. The wash water is re-
circulated and the losses is made up with additional freshwater. A small quantity of the wash
water is bled off to a treatment plant before discharge to sea. Typically closed freshwater
systems have a discharge rate of 0.1- 0.3m3/MW h. The system could also be designed with
a holding tank for zero discharge for a certain period.
Hybrid Scrubber
A hybrid is, as the name suggests, some kind of mix between both systems. At Wärtsilä the
name is used to identify a system that can run in both open loop and closed loop, enabling
flexibility for customers operating in both low and high alkalinity areas. The term “hybrid” is
also being used for other products, such as an open loop system where caustic soda (NaOH)
is being added to the water to give the alkalinity already in the seawater an extra boost. The
only thing one can really do to keep track is to ask the supplier to clarify what they mean by
hybrid, and what the benefit is of having such a system.
On the open sea the alkalinity levels are generally high, and therefore the seawater can be
utilized for scrubbing. This is what the open loop scrubber system does. There are, however,
some areas in the world where the alkalinity is too low for open loop scrubbing to be
practical. These areas include, for example, the American Great Lakes, the port of St
Petersburg, and the Mississippi river. If a ship is operating full time in these areas, a closed
loop system would be the best option as it uses caustic soda to buffer the scrubbing water’s
alkalinity.
Thus, the system is independent of the alkalinity in the surrounding seawater. A hybrid can
then be used for those vessels that mostly operate in high alkalinity waters, but enter low
alkalinity areas for shorter periods of time. A hybrid will then enable the system to switch
between open and closed loop, according to operational needs.
The different systems have benefits and drawbacks when considering CAPEX, OPEX and
sometimes practicality. There might be other reasons for choosing a specific scrubber, other
than just the alkalinity of the seawater on the vessel’s route.
If, for example, a ship operates in high alkalinity areas, but also in very shallow and sandy
waters, one might want to consider installing a closed loop or hybrid system. This is because
in an open loop, the sand will enter the system and cause wear to the equipment, especially to
the water treatment units. This will add a lot of cost to maintenance. Another thing to
consider is the amount of water running through the system, as one of the biggest costs when
operating a scrubber is the power used for the pumps.
The amount of water needed will be higher in an open loop than in a closed loop, and
therefore the power consumption will also be higher. In a closed loop system, however,
caustic soda is used and this will add some cost. The amount of equipment in the system will
also naturally affect the investment cost. Open loop comes out looking best here, as it is the
least complex system.