ERMA FIRST BALLAST WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM The ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment is an autonomous advanced system, developed and designed to meet the D-2 standards of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, by using physical separation, filtration and electrolysis process to treat ballast. System Description ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment system is comprised of the below stages during Ballast Water Treatment process: Filtration. A self-cleaning basket filter with pore size of 200 microns is used for the removal of particles with size larger of 200 microns, in order to ensure a high hydrocyclone performance. Physical Separation. It is effected through a multi-hydrocyclone separator, having a hydraulic load of 100 m3/hr each, separating particles larger than 20 microns. Electrolysis. By using an electrolytic cell, having low voltage direct current electrodes made of titanium and special coatings, sodium hypochlorite is produced for the disinfection of the ballast water. Neutralization. Used only during de-ballasting, a dosing pump is providing a sodium bisulfate solution to the ballast water for neutralizing the remaining free chlorine (down to 0.1ppm) within the treated ballast. 1
200 µm self cleaning filter Cyclonic Separator Electrolysis Cell The Treatment Process During Ballasting, the vessel s Ballast Pump is delivering the ballast intake to the self-cleaning basket filter, where sediments and particles larger than 200 µm are retained. Then the effluent passes from the hydrocyclone separator stages, where particles of larger than 20 µm are separated using the centrifugal force effect. After the above process, Ballast water clean from particles and sediments enters the electrolytic cell, where specially coated electrodes are producing low concentration free chlorine for the disinfection of the ballast water from micro-organisms. The product of this process flows to the ballast tanks so that the residual oxidants disinfect any harmful organisms taken on board. During de-ballasting, the pre-filtering equipment, cyclonic separator and electrolytic cell is by-passed, and only neutralization of the total residual chlorine is performed by adding aqueous sodium bisulfate solution to the ballast water through a dosing pump. The whole process is monitored and controlled by a central data logger, located in the control panel of the system, thus offering a fully automated, user friendly operational process. 2
The Advantages: The ERMA FIRST represents the ideal solution for the installation and operation of a Ballast Water Treatment on board, due to the below distinctive advantages: High sediment removal efficiency with stable operation. No need for back-flushing time due to the special type of filtration used. Stable pressure/stable Flow even in extreme sediment uptake, without clogging risks. No moving parts in any stage of the system s process. Compact Installation with very small footprint. Very low chlorine concentration (10 ppm) produced by an advanced electrolysis cell unit. Very Low power consumption due to the effective electrolysis cell (i.e. 3 kw for each 100 m3/hr of BW pump capacity). High Energy Efficiency and stable operation even in very low salinity waters (>=3 PSU) and cold waters (down to 3 o C). No corrosion risk in the ballast water tanks. No need for chemical storage and handling. Very simple and Fully Automated Operation ideal for crew use. No spare parts, due to prolonged lifetime of system components. Simple Piping installation, due to skid-mounted units. 3
The Approval Status The Basic Approval was granted during MEPC 62. ERMA FIRST has been recommended for FINAL APPROVAL by IMO GESAMP during 14 th December 2011, and will be officially awarded by MEPC 63 (Feb 2012). Type Approval will be issued by Mar 2012, by Lloyds Register Classification. Installation Features The ERMA FIRST system can be provided in skid-mounted units, modular arrangements or in containerized units, in case of non-available space on board. ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment unit Indicative P&I diagram 4
The skid-mounted unit comprises of the treatment stage modules (i.e. filter, cyclonic separators, electrolysis cells) as well as the neutralization unit, flow sensors, chlorine sensors, temperature switches, sodium bisulfate tank and can be provided pre-piped for easy installation on board. To reach the required Ballast Pump capacities, sufficient number of treatment stage modules must be installed, with each module (comprised of cyclonic separators and electrolysis cells) being able to treat 100, 250, 500 or 1000 m3/hr ballast water capacities. ERMA FIRST 500 m3/hr Ballast Water Treatment unit Typical Arrangement ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment system can be supplied as such to serve capacities ranging from 100 m3/hr up to 2500 m 3 /h, with higher capacity configurations also possible. ERMA FIRST, is a compact and energy efficient system, having a relatively small footprint, i.e. for a 500 m3/hr unit, the footprint is appx 4 m 2 and e-consumption at 15 kw. 5