Krystallon pledges fast reliable retro-fits
02/08/2006
With the introduction of sulphur emission control areas (SECAs) less than three months away, Krystallon, a joint venture between BP Marine and Kittiwake, today said it was confident of retro-fitting its sea water scrubbers within normal dry docking periods.
This commitment comes following Krystallon’s successful installation of a sea water scrubbing system on board P&O’s Pride of Kent vessel in December 2005, which was completed in just 3 days - eight hours ahead of schedule.
Designed to enable installation time to be kept to an absolute minimum, Krystallon’s sea water scrubber has also been engineered to minimise any impact on ship stability; be highly reliable over a long service life; and to provide ease of use and compliance assurance.
Andy Scapelhorn, installation manager at Krystallon, said: “Installing the Krystallon sea water scrubber on the Pride of Kent was a straightforward process, despite the fact that retro-fitting technology is often considered to be complicated. The equipment was installed and inspected without a problem and put into operation an hour later, achieving almost 100% efficiency straight away. Following this successful first commission we’re confident that we will fit a full ship system within a very tight timeframe.”
Test results from the Pride of Kent, taken daily since the end of 2005, prove that SO2 exhaust emissions are consistently reduced by in excess of 95%. This means that the vessel could use the heaviest fuel oil and still comply with the maximum sulphur levels of 1.5% in IMO SECAs and a future 0.1% sulphur maximum required in EU ports.
John Garner, Fleet and Ports Director at P&O Ferries, said: “Environmental impact reduction is an essential and major challenge for the marine industry to overcome. Krystallon's sea water scrubber is an exciting development towards achieving this. Its capacity to significantly reduce sulphur emissions is a highly compelling argument for adopting the system.”
Don Gregory, Director Environment and Sustainability at BP Marine, said: “Two key concerns for ship owners retro-fitting this equipment are the affect on ship stability and off-charter time. We have worked hard to ensure that neither the weight of the equipment nor the water content of the scrubber has any significant impact on ship stability. It is Krystallon’s policy to remove any uncertainty from both the installation and total cost of ownership, through extremely thorough testing, project management, and a deep understanding of the requirements for guaranteed execution.”
Krystallon’s sea water scrubbing system requires almost zero operator intervention to run. It is fully instrumented to provide extensive information to the ship’s chief engineer. By providing a full knowledge of operating conditions, especially the continuous monitoring of exhaust gases and discharge water, Krystallon provides the essential assurance to the ship owner and crew that the vessel is in full compliance.
Designed for a minimum 25-year life, Krystallon’s sea water scrubber draws on the lessons of over 150 land-based industrial scrubbers. Reliability is a key component and Krystallon has used proven engineering techniques to ensure the highest possible system quality.
Based on the principle that sea water is alkaline and contains naturally high levels of sulphur, Krystallon’s design uses that buffering capacity of the sea to neutralise sulphurous gases. The scrubbing water is processed to remove all potentially harmful components scrubbed from the exhaust gases and these components are retained on board ship for later safe disposal ashore. This approach is not only removing acid emissions to air but is sustainably cleaning up marine diesel exhaust emissions and improving air quality whilst ensuring that there is no harm to the marine environment.
For enquiries from the media, journalists and researchers only, the Krystallon Press Office can be contacted on 01782 751939/ 07769 901932 or e-mail: pshirley@theprfirm.co.uk