“Nobody thought it was possible,” commented Kim Diederichsen, CEO of BAWAT AS, a Danish company that it releasing to the shipping industry the first type-approved ballast water treatment system utilizing the pasteurization process.
In simple terms, his system cooks and then deoxygenates the ship’s ballast water to kill all the critters that enter the ballast tanks while in port. The vast majority of other ballast water treatment systems, of which there are many, utilize in-line mechanical filtering and UV radiation to eliminate these organisms.
Rendering courtesy BAWAT
As of today, there are roughly 1000 ships that have ballast water treatment systems installed on board, however companies that develop ballast water treatment systems have observed that only 1/10th of those ships are actually using these systems regularly. Considering the Ballast Water Convention has not been ratified, there’s no requirement to use these systems unfortunately unless the ship calls on a U.S. port.
Considering the United Nations has placed invasive species as one of the top four threats to the ocean environment, using ballast water treatment systems is undoubtably the right thing to do and by 2015, the Ballast Water Convention will be ratified globally.
With this in mind, Diederichsen, a man who has had both operational experience as a merchant marine officer as well as a businessman leading successful entrepreneurial projects in the maritime industry, decided that a non-filtration ballast water treatment system was the right way to go.
Heating up tens, or hundreds of thousands of gallons of seawater to 70 degrees C is not an easy task however, nor is it cheap – or so the skeptics thought.
In reality, it’s quite a simple process and by using waste heat from the ship’s main engine, it can be quite inexpensive as well.
Diederichsen’s system, named BAWAT, involves using globally available equipment such as pumps and standard plate-type heat exchangers and a to cycle ballast water through a heat exchanger and then mixed with nitrogen for deoxygenation. The ballast water is then injected into the bottom of the tank through rotary jet heads and fixed nozzles ensuring a thorough mixing.
The BAWAT system takes approximately 24 to 96 hours of treatment time depending on the size of the ship and the capex needed for such a system varies between $250,000 and $2 million, according to Diederichsen.
Have a question? Feel free to comment below, or email Kim Diederichsen
Trump outlines a tougher stance on Russia, conditioning peace talks on halting attacks and threatening sanctions on countries buying Russian oil. By Anastasiia Malenko, Steve Holland and Dan Peleschuk KYIV/WASHINGTON,...
(Bloomberg) — GE Vernova Inc. will pay $10.5 million to the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, after one of its offshore wind turbine blades broke into pieces and washed ashore last...
Saronic Technologies and Vigor Marine Group announced today a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the delivery of autonomous maritime capabilities while strengthening operational support for defense and commercial customers. The...
14 hours ago
Total Views: 631
Get The Industry’s Go-To News
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
— just like 109,057 professionals
Secure Your Spot
on the gCaptain Crew
Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news, delivered daily straight to your inbox
— trusted by our 109,057 members
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.