Unlike most BWTS systems, which rely on filtration, chemicals or UV treatment of the ballast water, the N.E.I. system is based around a patented oxygen stripping generator called the Venturi Oxygen Stripping (VOS) System. The system works by stripping oxygen from ballast water on intake to a level of 0.1% – 0.2% oxygen content killing any invasive species present.
N.E.I. is now combining the system to a have a dual function for tankers as an inert gas generator. “We are installing right now getting ready to go to sea trials on the first VOS Cargo Space system,” Jeffrey Barber, executive vice president – global sales and marketing for N.E.I., told a customer event in Singapore.
“That is a single stripping gas generator that we use for both cargo topping and cargo inerting and ballast water treatment simultaneously. So two traditionally separate functions are now consolidated into one.”
He said that this provided for a single point of maintenance and management, as well as simplifying functions such as crew training. “There’s no reason we can’t manage and direct cargo topping and cargo inerting at the same time.”
N.E.I. installed its first shipboard system in 2005 and through the stripping of oxygen from the ballast water claims significant gains in terms of preventing corrosion. Independent studies by the US Naval Research Laboratory and BMT Fleet Technology showed ballast water tank steel corrosion was reduced by 84%. “That has a huge impact for a vessel over its life on coatings and structure. We are not just overhead, we’re not just an expense,” Barber said.
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