China: Severn Trent De Nora to Provide BWT System for MOL’s New LNG Carriers

The Type-Approved BALPURE ballast water treatment system from Severn Trent De Nora was selected for use on four new LNG carriers being constructed for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd, at its shipyard in Shanghai, China. The 172,000-DWT LNG carriers owned by MOL for long term charter with China Gas / ExxonMobil will be the first new LNG carriers to install the BALPURE system.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding purchased four skid-mounted BALPURE BP-5000 systems, one for each of the 172,000-DWT LNG carriers. Each BALPURE system is capable of treating ballast water flow rates of up to 5,000 m3/h. The first BALPURE system will be installed in August 2012, with the last installation to be completed before the end of 2013.

Following a thorough technical review of competing treatment systems suitable to meet the application-specific requirements for the new LNG carriers, BALPURE remained the technology solution of choice due to its treatment approach, flexible footprint and ease of operation and maintenance.

BALPURE, which utilizes electrolytic disinfection technology, is an advantageous and economical ballast water treatment approach on board LNG / LPG carriers. BALPURE’s slip stream treatment approach, where one percent of the total ballast water flow is used to generate the hypochlorite disinfection solution, enables remote mounting away from the main ballast line. The BALPURE slip stream treatment approach, coupled with a design that requires treatment only during the uptake of the ballasting cycle, offers significantly reduced power requirements when compared to competing technologies — ensuring low operational costs. BALPURE offers a virtually maintenance-free approach to ballast water treatment through the use of proprietary self-cleaning electrodes that eliminate the need for chemical and mechanical maintenance that could otherwise be time consuming for ship’s crew.

“We believe that this order with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group is a positive endorsement of the BALPURE technology by shipping leaders Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and ExxonMobil,” said Jim McGillivray, BALPURE general manager for Severn Trent De Nora. “With the Ballast Water Management Convention getting closer to ratification, owners and operators have begun to shortlist their preferred ballast water treatment solutions. Since our Type Approval in July, BALPURE has begun to take a leading position on many of these preferred vendor listings.”

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World Maritime News Staff, November 30, 2011; Image: Severn Trent De Nora