Sweden: Alfa Laval to Supply Largest Fully Integrated Scrubber System to Spliethoff’s Vessel

Alfa Laval, a major equipment supplier to the marine industry, has signed a contract with Spliethoff, a leading player in the transport market. It covers the retrofit of a multiple inlet PureSOx exhaust gas cleaning system on board one of Spliethoff’s vessels which operates mainly in the North European ECA area.

It is the first order received by Alfa Laval for such a multiple inlet system. Since the vessel’s engines have a combined rated output of 28 MW, this will be the largest marine scrubbing system ever sold. It can therefore be seen as a step forward in preparing the maritime transport industry for the stringent environmental requirements that will take effect from 2015.

The system is the first to utilize just one scrubber to clean the exhaust gases for the main as well as the auxiliary engines. René Diks, Manager, Marketing & Sales, Exhaust Gas Cleaning, Alfa Laval: “For the retrofit market, where space and weight are critical issues, it is essential to be able to supply a single scrubber that handles exhaust gases from all the ship’s engines. Other advantages include lower energy consumption, less piping and lower maintenance costs.”

Alfa Laval already has another system in successful operation on DFDS Ficaria Seaways. This system treats the exhaust gas of a 21 MW MAN main engine and is currently the largest scrubber in operation in the market. To date, the system has completed more than 4,000 operating hours.

Important development for Spliethoff

Frank Louwers, Director of Spliethoff, explains that the investment in this technology ensures that Spliethoff will be well prepared to meet the upcoming sulphur legislation in 2015 (0.1% limit) in European and American ECA waters. It is expected that the scrubber installation will deliver significant environmental benefits.

“Financially, sailing on low sulphur marine gas oil is simply not an alternative for a company wishing to remain a dominant player in this market segment,” says Louwers. “Already today the price difference between heavy fuel oil and low-sulphur MGO with 0.1% sulphur is approximately USD 300 per tonne.”

A unique hybrid system

PureSOx, with a sulphur removal rate of more than 98%, is a unique hybrid system that can operate on either sea water or fresh water. The ability to operate the system in sea water mode will provide significant savings on caustic soda and fresh water consumption. In areas with low alkalinity the system will switch to fresh water mode. In this mode the water used for cleaning the exhaust gas is circulated in a closed system with zero discharge to the environment. Alfa Laval high speed separation technology is used to clean the effluent to ensure compliance with effluent water discharge criteria.

Flexible and economical

To minimize the energy consumption of the scrubber, the water flow is automatically adjusted to the engine power. The system is also designed to vary the water flow depending on the sulphur content in the fuel.

René Diks, Alfa Laval: “With PureSOx installed, shipowners can continue operating on high sulphur heavy fuel oil instead of more expensive low sulphur marine gas oil, while meeting increasingly strict IMO regulations regarding sulphur oxide emissions.”

The Spliethoff Group

The Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group is one of the largest shipowners in the Netherlands. The Group consists of Spliethoff and its subsidiaries BigLift Shipping (heavy lift), Wijnne Barends (short sea), Transfennica (liner services) and Sevenstar (yachts). The Group owns and operates a large, modern fleet of well over 100 multipurpose, heavy-lift and ro-ro vessels, ranging in size from 2,100 to 23,000 tonnes. All Spliethoff Group vessels have 1A Ice Class and several even 1A SUPER. They all sail under the Dutch flag.

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Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, February 14, 2012; Image: alfalaval