Five months after the IMO sulphur regulation was enforced, a total of eight ships are already outfitted with a SOx scrubber by AEC Maritime, which reduces emissions by more than 99%. Last year Lloyd’s Register approved and certified the AEC Maritime SOx scrubbing system which was installed on the Schleswig-Holstein of Scandlines. Since then Scandlines and other companies have ordered additional scrubber installations. This makes it a grand total of at least 10 ships fitted by AEC Maritime this summer.
Apart from closed loop systems, AEC now also has fully functioning open loop as well as hybrid scrubbers and has installed scrubbers on new build and retrofit. Since all systems are tailor made, AEC could learn from each experience. This has resulted in an even more compact scrubber system and thus made SOx scrubbing even simpler.
Patent pending
“We see these new orders as a vote of confidence in our technology. Our all-in-one system is characterized by simplicity,” remarked Marcel Clephas, Technical Director of AEC Maritime. “Our experience dates back to 1994 and includes extensive research on how to reduce emissions and odours. Our principals have applied this technology in no less than 2.300 land based scrubber systems. With this mature technology, we have made scrubbing simple” added Clephas. For the maritime industry, AEC Maritime has a patent pending on the design of this scrubbing technology that is - because of the low backpressure - applicable to all types of engines.
Scrubbing without filters and maintenance
The AEC scrubbing system has been fully operational since January 2014 on Scandlines' Schleswig-Holstein. “We were intrigued by the simplicity of the AEC scrubbing system. Their technology works without filters. There is no pollution on the deck, no filters to clean and no maintenance” remarked Fini Alsted Hansen, Technical Superintendent Fleet Management at Scandlines. “After testing the AEC closed loop scrubber system on our Schleswig-Holstein vessel we were so convinced that we ordered scrubbing systems for more vessels” he added.
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