Austrian scrubber supplier Andritz has received an order from French operator La Méridionale to conduct a retrofit to the filtration system on the company’s ferry Piana
The full retrofit of the roro vessel with Andritz’s proprietary Dual SeaSOx filtration system includes cleaning the exhaust from three additional main and two auxiliary engines, covering a total propulsion load of more than 40 MW.
Andritz is responsible for the overall engineering and supplying the main equipment, including manufacturing the filter chambers, the pneumatic conveying equipment for the sodium-based sorbent and by-products, the field instrumentation, and the integrated automation system.
Dry scrubbing as the process is dubbed, represents “a new milestone” in Adritz’s words, as it does away with the need for wash water. The retrofit is a three-way partnership between La Méridionale, chemicals manufacturer Solvay and Andritz.
Besides removing SOx and particulates, the system operates on 1/10 of the power consumption when compared with a closed-loop scrubber system and works without water recirculation and discharge while by-products can be recycled.
The SeaSOx filtration technology is based on the injection of Solvay’s SOLVAir – a sodium based sorbent – for SOx absorption. It uses a baghouse filter installed downstream of the injection point to remove particulate matter and sodium sulphate. SOLVAir powders are injected directly into the exhaust gas stream where they quickly break down noxious substances.
Andritz reported that emissions tests carried out by independent technology expert CERTAM after completing the first stage showed “excellent results for SOx and particulate removal”.
A first contract was successfully completed in March 2019 and included cleaning exhaust gases from one main engine and one auxiliary engine. After commissioning the first stage in June 2019, Andritz received the IAPP certificate from the French Flag administration, which attests that all statutory requirements for this installation have been fulfilled.
Classification society DNV issued the MED-G certificate, confirming that the safety and environmental compliance requirements have been satisfied.
The new filtration system will be installed in November 2021, with expected sea trials in February 2022. 180-m Piana operates in the Mediterranean between Marseille and Corsica.
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