2016년 3월 22일 화요일

Using Tankers for Municipal Waste Water Disposal

 

Can municipal sewage be transported to irrigate the desert?

Management Professor C. K. Prahalad authored a treatise in which he explored new business opportunities that result from the convergence of technologies, a concept based on lateral thinking and one where it is possible to envisage tankers being used to deliver municipal waste to new forms of desert agriculture.

The combination of the carrying capacity of large tanker ships, the location of deserts and the location of cities dumping raw sewage into rivers and the ocean, as well the evolving need to transport water internationally, presents a possible new business opportunity based on simultaneously solving several problems.

Dumping Raw Sewage

Last December environmentalists in Montreal, Canada expressed outrage as a result of the need to dump several million liters of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River. A similar uproar occurred in Cape Town, South Africa as a result of 50 million liters per day of sewage being released into the ocean. On the west coast of the Americas, cities such as Victoria, Canada and Santiago, Chile dump raw sewage into the ocean. At all such locations, evidence of the sewage can be seen in the form of slicks on the seawater and the hue of waves.

At the present day, a tanker ship carries potable water from Southern France to Israel. In some arid regions, water can actually sell at a higher price than the equivalent volume of combustible liquid fuel. Such a scenario enhances the viability of pipelines, tanker railway trains and tanker ships carrying potable water. Except that, in some nations like Canada, environmentalists and people who adhere to a strong nationalist sentiment vehemently oppose the export of water – even while some of their cities dump raw sewage into the waterways.

Proximity of Deserts

A look at an atlas that shows climatic regions of the world also reveals that many cities that dump sewage into the ocean are located in the same general regions as deserts that extend to the coast. Part of the Namib and Kalahari Deserts extend to the coast to the north of Cape Town. The Atacama Desert stretches along South America’s Pacific Coast in close proximity to Lima, Peru, and Santiago, Chile. California’s drought-stricken agricultural region is located close to the coast and several major coastal cities from Vancouver to San Diego.

Deserts extend to the coast in Australia, the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa, with several ports located on the edge of deserts internationally. Oil pipelines cross over the Arabian Desert, suggesting scope to adapt the pipeline technology to carry water from a coastal location to inland desert locations.

At locations where large tanker ships are too deep to berth at a port, an offshore terminal could facilitate the unloading of sewage from ship to pipeline. The size of modern tanker ships would allow them to moor at a port for several days, filling to 85 percent of their volume.

Desert Agriculture

Several innovations have recently occurred in India with regard to desert agriculture and using underground disposal of raw sewage as a means of sustaining the growth of food bearing plants.

Minimal annual rainfall in an arid region prompted a community leader to introduce innovative water collection techniques along with underground storage and distribution of water. The region grows crops that require minimal water and exports produce to other large cities. In another region, water collection, storage and distribution into homes flushes sewage into underground tanks that feed and sustain plants that bear tropical fruit.

In several regions, China uses sewage from cities to sustain agricultural production of food crops. Israel has been a pioneer in desert agriculture as well as underground water storage and distribution to plants.

A range of proven technologies can carry sewage from coastal cities to ports at the edge of deserts. From there, pipelines could carry the sewage inland to be distributed through underground pipes to supply commercial crops. Supersize tanker ships and possibly oceanic tanker trains can carry massive volumes of sewage at low cost from cities to desert ports.

Climate, Energy and Rainfall

A variety of geographic and weather factors result in different climatic regions occurring in close proximity to each other. Very recently, the installation of offshore and coastal wind turbines along the west coast of the U.K. resulted in the production of coastal fog, the result of the wind turbines actually cooling the airstream moving inland off the Irish Sea. That precedent can be applied at many locations internationally where humid winds blow off the sea and up a coastal mountain, where wind turbines could cool the incoming airstream to produce fog at high elevations and possibly increase rainfall.

The future development of technology capable of initiating and sustaining offshore waterspouts could also increase the volume of moisture that winds carry to high elevations along coastal mountains. Communities in some regions have installed fog fences in coastal mountains to harvest water directly from incoming fog and mist.

Large cities located near coastal mountains could benefit from the additional rainfall as their future population expands. They would produce greater future volumes of raw sewage that tanker ships would carry to coastal desert regions where agriculture has been developed, perhaps to grow some of the food that the cities would consume.

The tanker ship segment of the maritime industry could come to play a significant role in the combination of future sewage disposal and future food production. Many proven technologies and ideas can connect municipal sewage disposal to desert agriculture. While the short-term cost to initiate such activity may be high, the long-term cost may be sufficiently competitive to entice private sector interests to investigate future long-term business prospects collecting sewage from cities to sustain agricultural production at a desert location

The Original Posted by By Harry Valentine/The maritime Executive

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sewage treatment plant : Will cruises hit Luggage Point blockage?

Brisbane’s largest sewage plant with 12 waste storage ponds is only 200 metres away from where the city’s proposed $100 million new cruise ship terminal would be built at Luggage Point by 2019.

Fairfax Media went to Luggage Point to investigate the site after learning Queensland Urban Utilities and the Port of Brisbane have begun talks on ways to reduce odours from the waste plant.

Today it is a veritable abandoned sandy wasteland 30 minutes from the CBD and looks like the perfect place to dump a body. What it will look like in 2019 is open for debate.

Two of the world’s leading cruise ship companies; Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises lines have joined a market-led pitch with the Port of Brisbane to build a new cruise ship terminal at Luggage Point.

That would allow Brisbane to take advantage of mega-cruise ships and burgeoning cruise ship tourism in Australia. The trio are now vying to win the support of the state government.

But any international tourist who arrived yesterday would be shocked at how run down the Luggage Point area of Brisbane appears.

Luckily, if it gets government support, the proponents have until 2019 to build it, seriously improve the below-par roads and get rid of abandoned car bodies, blocks of concrete, derelict houses and add some lights and direction signs.

The first view some international guests would get of a typical “tin and timber” Queensland would be a selection of derelict timber treasures from Atlas House removals.

Sydney Harbour it isn’t. Darling Harbour neither.

However contrary to first impressions, Luggage Point doesn’t smell badly.

The area smells like a hardware shop that sells fertiliser. That is not surprising given it is close to BP Bulwer Island oil plant and across the Brisbane River from the city’s main cargo handling centre. And it’s not overpowering.

The area’s local councillor is David MacLachlan. Cr McLachlan says he has had no complaints about smells from the Queensland Urban Utilities Luggage Point plant 100 metres away.

“This site is removed from residential areas and no complaints have been made to office about odours at this site,” Cr McLachlan said.

“Any odour concerns would need to be addressed by the Port of Brisbane and the State Government, who are delivering this project.”

They would have to deal with this issue when there are 4000 passenger arriving per mega-liner.

The Port of Brisbane says it is talking to Queensland Urban Utilities about the perception problem, but did not explain how they would counter the problem.

“Luggage Point is the only viable location that is supported by the cruise operators and meets the specific technical requirements to accommodate vessels of more than 270m,” a spokesman said.

“We will use Stage 2 of the market-led proposal process to conduct a range of environmental and technical assessments with a view to resolving any potential concerns,” the statement reads.

“Our business case to Government will include plans to address any amenity issues. We are working collaboratively with QUU and other site neighbours to assess options and confirm their requirements and those of the cruise facility.”

On Monday Port of Brisbane chief executive Roy Cummins would not speculate on what he thought was the most pressing environmental issue facing the potential cruise ship port.

“We will do the detailed environmental and technical studies and that includes the amenity issues associated with the location,” he said.

Queensland Urban Utilities also did not answer how the two projects could sit side by side, but issued a short statement.

“We’re working closely with Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd to assist them in the next stage of their proposal, which will involve detailed technical investigations to ensure any development issues are addressed,” a spokesperson said.

“Luggage Point Sewage Treatment Plant is a world class facility that treats waste water to the highest standard. It’s one of Brisbane’s most important pieces of infrastructure, treating 60 per cent of the city’s sewage.”

In the meantime, while the road to the city’s potential $100 million cruise ship terminal may be called Main Beach Road; it is a long way from being either a “main road”, or leading to “a beach.”

The Luggage Point wastewater plant sits beside the Luggage Point recycled water plant, which opened in 2009 and has the ability to provide 70 megalitres of “recycled water” to Wivenhoe Dam’s drinking water supplies.

 

The Original Posted by Tony Moore/brisbanetimes

The post sewage treatment plant : Will cruises hit Luggage Point blockage? appeared first on Shipbuilding Equipment and materials - HOSEUNG Ent Co., Ltd.



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2016년 3월 21일 월요일

Huvis Water wins $20 mn contract to build water treatment facilities in Vietnam

Huvis Water wins $20 mn contract to build water treatment facilities in Vietnam

waste water treatment facilitiesSouth Korea’s Huvis Water Corp. secured a $20 million contract to build industrial water supply and waste water treatment facilities for a dyeing industrial park that is under construction in Tay Ninh province in southern Vietnam, the company announced on Monday. The construction is to be completed in 18 months.
The construction of the dyeing industrial complex sitting on a 2 million square meter site in Vietnam is led by TMTC Industrial Zone Development Co., which is a Vietnamese subsidiary of Korean shoes manufacturer Taekwang Industrial Co.
Under the agreement, Huvis Water will build a facility that could handle 20,000 cubic meters of waste water daily and a water supply facility that could handle 19,000 cubic meters of industrial water per day.
Huvis Water expects it could win the second phase of the water treatment project for the industrial park in Vietnam that will include the construction of a water treatment facility as well as minor facility maintenance and operation services. The company plans to put out efforts to make inroads into the overseas industrial water treatment market including Vietnam and China, said Shin In-yool, chief executive officer and president of the company.
Separately, the Korean water treatment firm set up a local subsidiary in Vietnam on Jan. 19 to expand its presence in Vietnam with high growth potential. Huvis Water also plans to participate in a Vietnamese government-led project bid.
Sourced by ekomeri.com

Slovenian Villages Connect To Mains Sewage Treatment

Slovenian Villages Connect To Mains Sewage Treatment

slovenia sewage treatment system
●WPL supplies packaged treatment plant for three villages
●EU funding finances sewerage and treatment systems
●Robust technology key to rural infrastructure
Mains sewage treatment is being brought to three villages in Slovenia for the first time with the help of a packaged treatment plant manufactured in the UK.
Hampshire-based WPL has been selected to produce the custom-made plant for the villages of Zdenska Vas, Mala Vas and Cesta in an EU-funded project.
Three High Performance Aerated Filter (HiPAF) units operating as a single treatment system at Zdenska Vas will be connected to a new mains sewerage system, ending the reliance of the villagers on septic tanks.
Central European Sales Manager Frantisek Mikulinec of WPL said: “In countries such as Slovenia and the Czech Republic there are thousands of small remote villages and many are not connected to a sewerage system. In small villages you can have very big fluctuation in flows throughout the day when people go to work. Also temperatures in winter can fall to as low as -15oC.
“The advantage of the HiPAF is that it can accommodate fluctuations in flow and temperature variations because submerged aerated filter (SAF) systems like the HiPAF adapt to loading changes more quickly than activated sludge flocs. Intensive nitrification can occur even when the temperature is low due to biofilm thickness.”
European funding
Approximately 70 per cent of the funding for the project comes from the European Union Cohesion Fund – which supports infrastructure projects. A further 30 per cent comes from the local government, which appoints the designer for the new sewerage systems.
Work on the Zdenska Vas and Mala Vas projects has been completed with work in Cesta expected to take place in early March 2016.
Mikulinec said strong local connections helped the UK company secure the contract as well as the proven reliability of the core process. WPL has more than 20 years experience of manufacturing packaged plants. The company specialises in custom-made plants which can treat to the highest environmental standards, including sub-1mg per litre ammoniacal nitrogen and total nitrogen (TON) where required.
“The great advantage of the WPL HiPAF system is that it is a very robust and reliable process, which is what you need in these smaller villages.
“WPL has a very close working relationship with Grosupje, a Slovenian water utility and the contractor for this job. In Slovenia WPL works with distributor F3M Levstek, which is very well known and well respected company.”
Low maintenance
Each HiPAF unit has a treatment capacity of 235 population equivalent. They will be fitted below ground in order to withstand the freezing temperatures in winter. A shared walk-in kiosk will house blowers, manifolds and control panels for all three plants.
The HiPAF system uses a combination of fixed-film and biomass reactions and is capable of achieving even the most stringent environmental standards. The tanks are fitted with a forward-feed system which lowers the level inside the tank during periods of low flow in order to create a balancing volume during surges.
WPL packaged plants are designed to be easy to maintain and if necessary each diffuser can be removed for maintenance without the need to shut down the plant.
Ongoing research
In order to maximise efficiency once the systems are fully operational WPL will compare influent, effluent and energy use from each village in an ongoing research project headed by sales manager Frantisek Mikulinec. The findings will then be used to adjust the process to make sure each unit is working as smoothly as possible.
He said: “The challenge with these sort of projects is to ensure we come up with exactly what has been specified by the designer of the new sewerage system appointed by the local authority. Because WPL specialises in custom-made packaged plants we are able to adapt our basic design to ensure it meets the requirements of the client.

Sourced by ekomeri.com

Daegu City Signs JV Deal with Chinese Firms for Wastewater Treatment Business

Daegu City Signs JV Deal with Chinese Firms for Wastewater Treatment Business

Wastewater-Treatment-Business
The Daegu metropolitan city government will move into the wastewater treatment business in China by establishing a joint venture among Chinese and Korean companies and a Chinese local government. The city government said on December 14 that a signing ceremony for the 400-million-yuan (US$62-million) joint venture was held on the same day in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, with Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin, president of the Daegu Environmental Corp., Yixing Industrial Park for Environmental Science & Technology director Zhu Xufeng, and others were in attendance.
The partners to the 49:51 joint venture include the Daegu Environmental Corp., EnbioCons Co. from Korea and the Yixing Industrial Park and Jiangsu Philip Environment Engineering Co. from China. Beginning from January this year with the launch of the much-strengthened new environmental law, a market of 8 trillion yuan ($1.24 billion) is likely to be created by 2020. A Daegu city government official explained, “This is a whole new approach in which a local autonomous body works with Chinese local government and corporate partners.”
EnbioCons is a company specialized in waste treatment and recycling, with a technology to turn wastewater sludge into solid fuel. It will receive about 100 million yuan ($15.5 million) for technology licensing fee separately from the latest deal. The Yixing Industrial Park is directly under the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Philip Environment Engineering, established in 1999, is specialized inwastewater treatment  and has five affiliates under its wings.

 Sourced by ekomeri.com

Environmental sustainability part of cruise industry efforts

Environmental sustainability part of cruise industry efforts

cruising-industry
As the cruising industry continues to grow, and the Port of San Diego seeks to bring a chunk of that new business to our city, I often hear concerns about these ships’ environmental impact. And it’s a valid point of discussion: Are we sacrificing environmental sustainability for vacation indulgence?
In my role as a professional travel agent, I’ve had the privilege of helping clients plan romantic getaways, family reunions and bucket-list itineraries. Studies show the health benefits of spending time away, particularly in the natural world, and cruising is one of my personal favorite escapes to nature because it promises the pleasures of being on the water. However, if the Earth’s incredible variety of land and seascapes is degraded, so is our travel experience. That’s why I’ve found avid travelers are also vocal, dedicated conservationists.
Travel and tourism organizations that rely on our planet’s splendors know that it is in their interest to protect the environment, and cruise lines are at the forefront of corporate environmental stewardship. After all, their business depends on healthy oceans, clean beaches and pristine destinations that meet their customers’ expectations.
Many people are unaware that cruise lines are innovators in environmentally sustainable practices. A few examples:
While cruise ships comprise less than 1 percent of the global maritime community, they develop groundbreaking, responsible environmental practices and innovative technologies that lead the world’s shipping sector in reducing emissions and waste.
Many cruise lines exceed environmental regulatory requirements in a number of areas. Carnival Corp., owner of several popular cruise brands including the eponymous Carnival Cruise Line, recently announced it reached a goal a year earlier than planned to reduce emissions by 20 percent, and revealed an ambitious slate of new sustainability goals to be achieved by 2020.
The cruise industry continuously looks for ways to reduce its impact on the environment and works closely with environmental regulators to protect air, oceans and ecosystems. Cruise lines are investing more than $500 million in new technologies, and even more in cleaner fuels, to significantly reduce ships’ air emissions.
These efforts don’t go unnoticed: Holland America Line, which has more San Diego cruise calls than any other cruise line, received the 2014 Marine Environmental Business of the Year award from the Port of Seattle for reducing its global environmental footprint, for instance.
No matter where on the Earth they are, cruise line members of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) must process all sewage through treatment system in accordance with international requirements prior to discharge, and even then it’s only discharged many miles from shore. And here’s a little-known fact: Cruise lines exceed the practices of most coastal municipalities’ water treatment facilities.
Cruise ship waste management professionals recycle 60 percent more waste per person than the average person recycles on shore each day, recycling 80,000 tons of paper, plastic, glass and aluminum cans each year. Disney Cruise Line, which is making 10 calls in San Diego this year, offloads 1,000 gallons of used cooking oil from shipboard galleys for recycling each week at various ports; in the Bahamas, this oil is converted into biodiesel fuel for a fleet of local vehicles.
In U.S. waters, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard oversee rigorous requirements for cruise ships on air, water, power and waste, including provisions of the U.S. Clean Water Act. Environmental performance information is publicly and transparently available.
Engaging over the years with groups like Sustainable Travel International, the Ocean Conservancy, and Conservation International, the cruise industry is fully committed to doing its part to preserve the oceans in which it will transport 23 million travelers this year, as well as the destinations its ships visit. This is both the right thing to do and fundamental to the industry’s future.
It is for these reasons that I have no qualms sending clients on a fabulous cruise vacation, whether that means a few nights down to Ensenada or 120 nights around the world. Let the sea set you free!
Sourced  By ekomeri.com

Waste energy: From recovery to management

Waste energy: From recovery to management

Waste energy
A simple configuration of waste energy providers and users reduces complexity in Ulmatecy’s waste heat recovery system
As ship owners and operators face the need for increasing efficiency, waste heat recovery is becoming a more attractive proposition. And a new system from Ulmatec Pyro promises a one-stop solution for a range of other water systems. Gavin Lipsith reports.
With the step changes in installed power required by the Energy Efficient Design Index (EEDI), many industry observers suggest that waste heat recovery will play a major role in achieving these reductions. According to some estimates, only 30-40% of energy produced by ships’ engines is used efficiently, with the remainder disappearing as heat through exhaust gas and engine cooling water. In recent years several suppliers have attempted to recapture this energy for applications across vessels.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS), which converts heat from exhaust gas, was first launched in 2010. It now boasts an installed base of 64 vessels, with orders for a further 34 – including 11 new mega-containerships on order from Maersk and under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. In total Maersk has ordered 69 of the systems.
Conventional waste-heat recovery systems for a main diesel marine propulsion engine supplies electricity to a ship using an exhaust gas economizer and a steam turbine. MHI’s unit consists of a conventional combined system with a gas economizer, a steam turbine and a power turbine (gas turbine) utilising a portion of the exhaust gas, and an automatic clutch.
The power turbine is coupled with the steam turbine through the automatic clutch to drive a generator. The rotating torque of the power turbine is added to the steam turbine to drive the generator. When the total electricity demand of the ship is below the full capacity of the heat recovering generator, the steam system takes the main role with complementary power support from the power turbine.
In total MHI claims that its system can increase the efficiency of marine engine plant by 8-10%. Running on exhaust gas from a marine diesel engine with a maximum continuous rating of 45,740kW at 78rpm, the generator can provide up to 4,000kW at 1,800rpm.
MHI was also involved in the development a more recent waste heat system, launched last year by US-based Calnetix Technologies. As reported in detail last month, the Hydrocurrent system can produce up to 125kW of power for the ship’s electric load from heat recovered out of the engine’s jacket water. The system, which operates using an organic rankine cycle (ORC) heat recovery process, is claimed to be able to generate electricity from water temperature as low as 80°C, below that needed for other systems.
The Hydrocurrent ORC module is a closed-cycle evaporator-condenser phase-change loop, using an organic fluid that has a very low boiling point. The fluid is pumped through an evaporator that pulls heat from the engine’s jacket water. The superheated vapour is expanded across Calnetix’s Thermapower unit, an integrated power module developed by Calnetix.
Another company seeking to mobilise waste energy – both from exhaust gas and engine cooling water – is Norway-based Ulmatec Pyro. The company launched its Pyro waste heat recovery system in 2011 and has so far sold 80 systems, to what managing director Jan Petter Urke describes as ‘major players’ in the market. Maersk have eight systems and Bourbon twenty.
The Pyro system is based on a primary thermal fluid circuit comprising flow and return pipes and a circulating pump module. The thermal fluid is normally a water-glycol mix, and it is pumped around the circuit at a controlled pressure of up to 3 bar, depending on the type of vessel. Pyro systems do not need to use steam to create electricity, running at less than fluid boiling point.
This circuit provides the means for connecting the sources of energy – primarily engine exhausts, jacket cooling Maersk , turbocharger intercoolers and lube oil coolers – to the systems requiring heat. Suppliers and consumers are connected as parallel links between the flow and return sides of the primary circuit, and each has its own heat exchanger and control valves.
Suppliers of heat, from energy which would otherwise be wasted, can be selected so that the primary circuit is maintained at the desired temperature. Each consumer is separately supplied with the flow it needs to provide the required amount of heat.  A PLC-based control system allows the operator to oversee the status of the plant on-screen, select suppliers and consumers and set the  consumer temperatures. Once this has been done, the control valves work automatically to give the results required by the operator.
The company had previously used waste heat to heat and cool accommodation, produce fresh water, provide sanitary hot water and to heat tanks. Using those solutions, the company claimed that around 60% of waste energy generated onboard could be used. This year it has added to that basic system with solutions for de-icing, ballast water treatment, water cooling and power generation – and it claims that 75% of waste heat can now be put to use.
The Climeon power generation system uses waste heat from three sources – exhaust gas, high-temperature water and low-temperature water – to give a product range of 150-600kW. Given that it can take 2,000 litres of fuel to generate 1kW of pump efficiency, the potential saving is clear.
The company has secured a patent for a new de-icing system. By circulating hot water in an inner tube inside the railings, hot water is transported 20m in each direction before returning to the centre of the system – maintaining the same temperature across a 40m range. This avoids the common de-icing issue of water temperature dropping as it travels around the system.
The company can also use waste heat to power a ballast water system that is currently under tests prior to submission for IMO and US Coast Guard approvals. The system pasteurises and filters water, with the required heat maintained by circulation – with the already heated water given a temperature boost and then being circulated to provide heat for water coming into the system. A slow-flow system ensures that the water circulates at the rate required to ensure its temperature is maintained.
The Pyro waste energy cooling system also leads to pumping energy efficiencies, using frequency controlled pumps to reduce the flow needed to cool water. This allows vessels to reduce the number of pumps on board; for a recent installation on a 140m offshore construction vessel, Ulmatec Pyro was able to more than halve the number of cooling pumps and seawater heat exchangers, just adding four freshwater heat exchangers.
“If the vessel needs 15.000kW of cooling effect during a year, you can save as much as 100kW in reduced pump effect with our system, which equals around 200,000 litres of fuel a year,” says Urke. “This is made possible by using fewer pumps, and by the control of automatic regulated valves, which pumps strictly the required volume and flow of cooling water.”
The motivation for operators to install such systems is clear. As Urke explains: “Marine gas oil price is going up and down. Currently the cost is about US$500 per tonne, and has been up to US$960 per tonne, but is generally expected to increase dramatically the next te- to twenty years. This has a huge impact, both on running costs, and emissions to the environment.”
There are clearly efficiencies to be gained, although the low numbers of vessels fitted with such system attests to potential obstacles in cost and complexity. As the need for efficiency becomes more pressing, ship operators will continue to look even more closely at developments in the sector.
Sourced by ekomeri.com

Sewage Treatment Innovation with Microbial Technology


sewage treatment plant Sewage Treatment Sewage Treatment Innovation with Microbial Technology emma saunders 1
Biotal Marine has developed Biotal MDS 3000, a unique microbial product for the marine industry.
Developed through years of industry-leading research and development, Biotal MDS 3000 has been created to provide a holistic sewage treatment and ship maintenance package. The specifically chosen bacteria in the products are able to efficiently break down uric acid, reducing its ability to form uric scale.
Since 2008, all ships need to be equipped with an approved sewage treatment plant, under the Annex IV revisions from the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).
One of the biggest issues affecting sewage collection systems is the build-up of black water scale in sewage vacuum systems or sewage holding tanks. Safely neutralising the harmful bacteria found in the collection systems is an important issue, and often requires the use of harsh chemicals that are expensive and inefficient.
Black water is commonly caused from flush water and urine that over time forms scale in pipes and process equipment. The build-up of scale is aggravated by the action of the sewage vacuum and the effects of heat in the engine room both increase the evaporation rates of water within the shipping pipes and therefore speed up scale deposition.
Scale build-up within black water pipes eventually leads to blockages and foul odours, which can be an expensive, and time consuming issue to resolve.
The bacteria also prevents the build-up of organic and inorganic scale and matter in sanitation piping systems. The bacteria is able to degrade greases, oils, fats and other organic waste found in sewage pipes and drains, and this reduces the build-up of sludge and deposits in sewage plants and holding tanks.
The bacteria inside Biotal MDS 3000 are able to maintain pipes as they form a biofilm throughout the inside of the drain system, which is chemical and heat resistant, and is able to regenerate following any damage. The bacteria within the biofilm continue to produce enzymes for continuous organic matter and uric acid degradation.
Because the bacteria are specifically selected to break down uric acid and organic matter, Biotal Marine products deliver a targeted and efficient cleaning performance, in comparison with harsher chemicals that have a more general application process.
The use of natural microbes also makes Biotal marine products safer to apply than chemicals, and safer to store and handle for onboard employees. They also have a minimal impact on natural marine ecosystems.
Another advantage of using Biotal MDS 3000 is economic sustainability. After application, the microbes in the formula cultivate in the pipes and sewage collection systems and then continue working. This ensures the products continue working after application. In the long-term this can reduce shipping maintenance costs.
Biotal Marine research and development specialist Emma Saunders said: “Sewage treatment is an essential part of all ship maintenance. Products currently on the market that are used to maintain sewage collection systems are ineffective in preventing scale build-up, and often use harsh and unsafe chemistries to degrade organic and inorganic material.
“That is why we developed Biotal MDS 3000: to provide a far more cost-effective and eco-friendly sewage treatment product for the shipping and marine industry.
“By creating organic microbial cleaning solutions, we are able to offer a holistic cleaning alternative to harsher chemical products that are harmful to the environment, costly, and economically unsustainable.”
Sourced by ekomeri.com

Court orders EPA to revise ship ballast dumping regulations

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -A federal appeals court ordered the government Monday to rewrite its regulations on ballast water discharges from ships, one of the leading culprits in the spread of invasive species across U.S. waterways.Environmental groups contended in a lawsuit that an industry-wide permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency two years ago wasn’t tough enough to prevent vessels from introducing additional harmful organisms such as zebra and quagga mussels, which have caused heavy economic and ecological damage in the Great Lakes and spread as far as the West Coast.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided mostly with the environmentalists, saying the EPA erred in numerous ways, including settling for international limits on live organisms in ballast water when technology was available to meet tougher standards.The court also faulted the agency for failing to consider onshore treatment of ballast water, exempting vessels built before 2009 that operate only in the Great Lakes from the discharge limits, and requiring inadequate monitoring of discarded water to make sure it complies with the rules.
“This decision is welcome news for the millions of families, anglers, hunters, paddlers, beach-goers, and business owners, who have borne the brunt of damages from aquatic invasive species for far too long,” said Marc Smith, policy director for the National Wildlife Federation, one of the groups that had sued.
The EPA referred a request for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, where spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said the decision was under review.
Ships take on ballast water to maintain stability in rough seas, or as cargo is loaded and unloaded. Water sucked into ballast tanks while vessels are in port can habor fish, mussels, aquatic plants and other organisms, which are hauled to distant locations and released. More than 21 billion gallons of ballast water are dumped in the U.S. each year.
Some of the organisms have no natural predators in their new environments, allowing them to multiply rapidly, out-compete native species for food and habitat, spread disease and destabilize ecosystems.
Ballast was long exempt from regulation under the Clean Water Act, a policy the EPA abandoned in response to environmentalists’ lawsuits.
Its permit issued in 2013 put ceilings on the concentration of live organisms in ballast water using standards proposed by the International Maritime Organization and adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2012. Additionally, it required transoceanic commercial vessels to exchange their ballast water 200 miles from the U.S. shoreline or rinse their tanks if empty, in hopes that the salty water would kill any freshwater organisms left behind.
In its 3-0 ruling Monday, a panel of the New York-based appeals court agreed with the National Resources Defense Council, Northwest Environmental Advocates, the Center for Biological Diversity and the National Wildlife Federation that the EPA “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in crafting the permit.
Instead of adopting the international standards, the agency could have based its live-organism limits on what the best available technology could achieve, the judges said. Systems for killing creatures in ballast water have been devised using methods such as filtration, removing oxygen from the water, zapping it with ultraviolet light or adding chlorine.
The EPA’s Science Advisory Board found that while no system existed for completely sterilizing ballast water, those technologies potentially could be lethal enough to meet standards 10 times stronger than the international ones, the judges said.
On another issue, the EPA said it didn’t consider using onshore facilities such as sewage and drinking water treatment plants for cleansing ballast water because it knew of none capable of meeting the discharge standards. But the judges said the agency had “turned a blind eye” to the possibility and had discouraged the science board from exploring it.
The board’s report said the use of onshore facilities “appears to be technically feasible” and could have numerous advantages over shipboard systems, the judges said.
The appeals panel said the existing permit will remain in place until the EPA produces a new one. The panel set no deadline, but the existing permit expires in 2018

Mercy Ships selects Evac waste system

Waste technology expert Evac has been selected to supply its total waste management system to the world’s largest newbuild civilian hospital ship, the ‘Atlantic Mercy’.
Atlantic Mercy, being constructed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation at the Tianjin Xingang Shipyard, will be owned and operated by the non-profit Mercy Ships, and used to provide medical care in the poorest parts of Africa.
Its waste management system will include 393 vacuum toilets, two vacuum units (type Evac OnlineMax 175), two sewage treatment plants (type Evac MBR 135K), one incinerator, a sludge handling system, a food waste vacuum collecting system, a converter for medical waste and a thermal steriliser for wastewater generated by the ship’s hospital area.
Vacuum toilets require only 1.2 litres of water per flush – six to seven times less than gravity toilets. This means water savings of 52 cubic metres per day for the ship which can carry 950 persons. Especially significant in Africa where pure water is a precious commodity.
Collected wastewater will be treated by two Evac MBR (Membrane Bioreactor) biological sewage treatment plants. The plant’s membranes work as mechanical barriers to any impurities and stop almost all bacteria and viruses.
The incinerator and equipment for dry waste handling will mean frequency of trips to shore for waste disposal will be decreased and environmental impact of waste disposal reduced. They will also reduce volume of dry waste negating the need for a large waste storage room and freeing up more room for medical equipment.
The package’s food waste vacuum collecting system is particularly beneficial in climates like Africa where temperatures can reach 45 degrees celsius. It requires a holding tank four times smaller than conventional systems and saves 3.3 cubic metres of water per day. Issues such as quick fermentation, smell, and contamination are virtually eliminated.
The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2016.
Sorced by ekomeri.com

Basic Description of a Sewage Treatment Plant on Ship

Discharging of sewage in sea or territorial waters in banned as it can drastically affect the marine life. In case the sewage is to be discharged, first it has to be treated with the help of asewage treatment plant. STP is now mandatory on every ship, according to International legislature.
sewage-treatment-system
  • Introduction

    The first question you would probably ask is , “Why to use a ship sewage treatment plant if the waste is already biodegradable?”. The question definitely isn’t wrong but the problem is that not all sewage constituents are biodegradable and not all take the same time to break down. Also, untreated sewage has solid particles which take a lot of time to disintegrate. It is for this reason that a sewage treatment plant is used.
    Raw sewage in water needs oxygen to break down naturally. This sewage when disposed to the sea absorbs excessive oxygen and thus reduce the requisite amount of oxygenneeded by the fishes and marine plants. Bacterias present in the sewage produces hydrogen sulfide gas which produces acrid smell. Human waste has E. Coli bacterias which are found in the intestine. The amount of E.Coli bacteria in a water sample indicates the sewage content of that sample.
    Sewage treatment plants on ships are of two types:
    • Chemical sewage treatment plant
    • Biological sewage treatment plant
  • Chemical Sewage Treatment plant

    basic concept of sewage treatment systemA chemical treatment plant consists of a big storage tank which collects, treates and stores the sewage for discharging it to the sea or to a shore receiving facility. The sewage is first collected in a tank and the liquid content is reduced. This can be done by flushing water from wash basins and bathroom drains directly into the sea. The liquid from any other sources is treated chemically to get rid of the color and smell and then it is reused as flushing water in toilets. The chemicals that are used assist in the process of breaking the solid constituents and also in sterilization.
    A mechanical instrument known as comminutor is used to help breaking down of the solid particles to smaller ones. The liquid sewage remains at the top and the solid particles settle down, which are then discharged to a sullage tank. The liquid sewage is chemically treated and is used for toilet flushing purposes. The sewage from the sullage tank is discharged to the shore collecting facilities.
    It is important to supply adequate quantity of chemical dosages to prevent odour and corrosion due to high level of alkalinity.




  • Biological Sewage treatment plant

    Biological sewage treatment plant uses bacterias to facilitate the process of breaking down of solid constituents. It generates an oxygen rich atmosphere that aerobic bacterias utilizes to multiply and disintegrate the sewage waste to convert it into sludge. The treated sewage thus generated can be disposed off to any waters. The process that takes place inside the plant is known as aeration process.
    The whole plant is divided into three compartments namely,
    • aeration compartment
    • settling compartment
    • chlorine treatment compartment.
    basic concept of sewage treatment systemSewage enters the sewage treatment plant first through the aeration compartment. Aerobic bacterias digests the sewage waste and reduce it to small particles. A continuous supply of atmospheric oxygen is provided to increase the rate of digestion process.The disintegrated solid waste is then transferred to the settling compartment where the solid constituents settle down under the effect of gravity. The liquid at the top is then passed to the chlorine treatment compartment. In this compartment the liquid water is treated with chlorine and other chemicals to kill any surviving bacterias. Once done the water is then discharged into the sea. The process of chlorination is facilitated with the help of chlorine tablets. The sludge that settles down in the settling compartment is removed and stored in a storage tank to later discharge it to shore facilities or decontrolled areas.

Sewage From Ships in the BALTIC

In 2011 IMO designated the Baltic Sea as a “special area” for passenger ships in terms of MARPOL Annex IV (on sewage from ships). The coastal countries shall report to IMO (MEPC) that the sewage reception facilities in the Baltic Sea ports fulfill the criteria of adequacy, before the “special area” regulations will take effect on 1 January 2016, at the earliest.
The IMO decision to designate the Baltic Sea as an Annex IV “special area” in 2011 was based on a proposal by Baltic Sea coastal countries submitted in 201​0, developed as a follow up of a commitment included in the 2007 HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), as a measure to meet the country, and basin, specific nutrient pollution reduction goals.
The BSAP nutrient pollution goals are to be reached with measures taken within all relevant fields of human activity including agriculture, emissions to air from land and sea tr​affic as well as sewage, both from municipalities and industry facilities on land as well as from passenger ships.Baltic Sea Sewage Port Reception Facilities
In anticipation of the 2011 IMO decision the 2010 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting set up a Baltic Sea Cooperation Platform on sewage PRFs. The latter has during 2010-2013 involved the shipping industry, technology providers, ports and national authorities for discussions on outstanding issues around the improvement of sewage PRFs in the region. The outcomes have been reported to the HELCOM MARITIME Group where the competent national administrations of the Baltic Sea countries have provided their input.
By 2013 the work of this Cooperation Platform resulted in the document “HELCOM Interim Guidance on technical and operational aspects of sewage delivery to port reception facilities” which has been submitted to the HELCOM 2013 Ministerial Meeting for adoption. The Guidance outlines current best practices as well as outstanding issues in terms of PRF improvements.
In 2015, a report has been released to provide information on port reception facilities for sewage (PRFs) and their use by international cruise ships in the Baltic Sea area during 2014.
Cruise ships operating in the Baltic Sea, their length of sea voyages as well as frequency and duration of port visits are described in detail. Also the ports visited by cruise ships and the sewage facilities are covered in terms of facilities and traffic trends. The report is based on information from obligatory AIS (Automatic Identification System)​ position reports received from a comprehensive list of cruise ships operating in the region. It provides thus a nearly complete coverage of cruise ship movements during 2014.
Based on the analyses of ship movements, passenger capacity and port facilities, the new report helps also to clarify what the real needs of cruise traffic might be in terms of sewage management in the Baltic Sea cruise ports.