erma first ballast water treatment system

8/4/2019 ERMA FIRST BALLAST WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

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ERMA FIRST BALLAST WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

The ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment is an autonomous

advanced system, developed and designed to meet the D-2

standards of the International Convention for the Control and

Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, by using

physical separation, filtration and electrolysis process to treat

ballast.

System Description

ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment system is comprised of the below stages during Ballast Water

Treatment process:

Filtration. A self cleaning basket filter with pore size of 200 microns is used for the removal ofparticles with size larger of 200 microns, in order to ensure a high hydrocyclone performance.

Physical Separation. It is effected through a multi-hydrocyclone separator, having a hydraulicload of 100 m3/hr each, separating particles larger than 20 microns.

Electrolysis. By using an electrolytic cell, having low voltage direct current electrodes made oftitanium and special coatings, sodium hypochlorite is produced for the disinfection of the ballast

water.

Neutralization. Used only during de-ballasting, a dosing pump is providing a sodium bisulfatesolution to the ballast water for neutralizing the remaining free chlorine (down to 0.1ppm) within

the treated ballast.


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200 m self cleaning filter Cyclonic Separator Electrolysis Cell

The Treatment Process

During Ballasting, the vessels Ballast Pump is delivering the ballast intake to the self-cleaning basket

filter, where sediments and particles larger than 200 m are retained. Then the effluent passes from the

hydrocyclone separator stages, where particles of larger than 20 m are separated using the centrifugal

force effect. After the above process, Ballast water clean from particles and sediments enters the

electrolytic cell, where specially coated electrodes are producing low concentration free chlorine for the

disinfection of the ballast water from micro-organisms. The product of this process flows to the ballast

tanks so that the residual oxidants disinfect any harmful organisms taken on board.

During de-ballasting, the pre-filtering equipment, cyclonic separator and electrolytic cell is by-passed,

and only neutralization of the total residual chlorine is performed by adding aqueous sodium bisulfate

solution to the ballast water through a dosing pump.

The whole process is monitored and controlled by a central data logger, located in the control panel of the

system, thus offering a fully automated, user friendly operational process.


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The Advantages:

The ERMA FIRST represents the ideal solution for the installation and operation of a Ballast Water

Treatment on board, due to the below distinctive advantages:

High sediment removal efficiency with stable operation. No need for back-flushing time due to the special type of filtration used. Stable pressure/Stable Flow even in extreme sediment uptake, without clogging risks. No moving parts in any stage of the systems process. Compact Installation with low footprint (i.e. 4.5 m2 for a

500m3/hr system)

Very low chlorine concentration produced by an advancedelectrolysis cell unit.

Low power consumption due to the effective electrolysis cell(i.e. appx 15 kW for a 500 m3/hr unit)

High Energy Efficiency and stable operation even in very lowsalinity waters (


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The Approval Status

The Basic Approval dossier is submitted to

IMO on the 29th of March 2010 and will be

received during MEPC 62, as GESAMP

successfully recommended our system.

Land-based tests have been performed in the reputable Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

(NIOZ) from May 2010 till July 2010, successfully completed, showing not only full compliance with D-2

requirements, but also achieving effluent standards well below.

Sea board tests are currently under process and Type Approval is expected to be received by Mar 2012.

Installation Features

The ERMA FIRST system can be provided in skid-mounted units, modular arrangements or in containerized

units, in case of non-available space on board.

ERMA FIRST 500 m3/hr Ballast Water Treatment unit Typical P&I diagram


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The skid-mounted unit comprises of the treatment stage modules (i.e. filter, cyclonic separators,

electrolysis cells) as well as the neutralization unit, flow sensors, chlorine sensors, temperature switches,

sodium bisulfate tank and can be provided pre-piped for easy installation on board.

To reach the required Ballast Pump capacities, sufficient number of treatment stage modules must be

installed, with each module (comprised of one cyclonic separator and one electrolysis cell) being able to

treat 100 m3/hr ballast water.

ERMA FIRST 500 m3/hr Ballast Water Treatment unit Typical Arrangement

ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment system can be supplied as such to serve capacities ranging from 100

m3/hr up to 2500 m3/h, with higher capacity configurations also possible.

ERMA FIRST, is a compact and energy efficient system, having a relatively small footprint, i.e. for a 500

m3/hr unit, the footprint is appx 4.5 m2 and e-consumption at appx 15 kW.

erma first ballast water treatment system

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