The September 15, 2015 issue of Marine Link’s Maritime Reporter and Engineering news published an extensive article by CR Ocean Engineering’s Chief Operating Office Nicholas Confuorto discussing the merits of marine exhaust gas scrubbers, as a means of achieving MARPOL Compliance.
Exhaust gas scrubbers are now installed in some 300 vessels worldwide. And many others are in design and installation phases.
Mr. Confuorto, who is also Chairman of the London-based Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Association (EGSA), provides some valuable insights on the three exhaust gas scrubber configurations and other valuable and needed information on this alternative option that can mean substantial savings for ship owners.
Click here for the full article (pages 21, 22 and 23).
Excerpts:
“On January 1, 2015, the IMO Annex VI, ECA zone requirements came into effect. Ship owners and operators are now faced with having to decide between switching to a lower sulphur fuel or embracing alternate solutions such as exhaust gas cleaning systems (Scrubbers) and LNC”.
[…]
“In a shipping industry where the incremental savings could mean the difference between being competitive or losing money, the scrubber alternative could make a big difference”.
[…]
“The cruise and ferry industry account for the majority of the 300 scrubber installations, as the industry has seemingly embraced scrubbing technology as a solution to the ECA requirements”.
[…]
“A properly designed marine scrubbing system includes certain features. It has to be light weight, relatively small in both diameter and height, highly efficient and it must be cost effective. It also has to have low backpressure and all construction”.
“Scrubbing Systems are available in Open Loop (a once through design using seawater to neutralize the collected sulphur emissions. Closed Loop (using a freshwater solution with an alkaline solution to neutralize the collected sulphur compounds) or Hybrid configuration (designed to be both Open Loop and Closed Loop and able to switch from one configuration to another on demand). Specific selection is based on ship routing or owner’s preference”.
[…]
“The moral of the story is that scrubbing systems can save significant money if a ship operates in an ECA for more than about 40% of the time. Risks can be managed by contracting with a known and reputable company with proven scrubbing system design experience (using EGSA member companies is one way to minimize risk). In the end all parties want a successful system operation for many decades and all can benefit by this IMO established equivalency”.
Download our brochure
Email Nicholas Confuorto
