DESMI BWTS approved for hazardous area installation

The RayClean Ballast Water Treatment is based on mechanical filtration and UV treatment

JUNE 13, 2016 — Aalborg, Denmark, based DESMI Ocean Guard A/S reports that Dekra Exam GmbH has issued ATEX certificate for its RayClean-EX ballast water treatment system.

This means the system can now be installed directly in hazardous areas onboard tankers.The certificate covers both the RayClean UV unit and the UV control panel powering the UV unit, and enables both these components to be installed in hazardous areas onboard tanker vessels such as oil tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers.

The filter, valves and sensors in the RayClean system can also be delivered in ATEX certified version meaning that all components of the RayClean system except the main control panel can be installed directly in hazardous areas. The main control panel must be installed in a safe area like e.g. engine control room, which in general is the normal approach.

“We are of course very pleased to announce that we have received this important certification, which will open up an entirely new market segment for our ballast water treatment system,” says Rasmus Folsø, CEO of DESMI Ocean Guard. “So far we have not been able to offer our customers a certified version of our RayClean system, which could be installed in hazardous areas on tankers, but now we can! While we await U.S, Coast Guard’s final decision regarding our USCG type approval application submitted to them in March 2015, as only the second company in the world to do this, we continue to develop our RayCleam’ system in order to strengthen our market offering, and the ATEX certificate is a good example of this.”

“We have designed our ATEX certified version of RayClean in order to enable installation in all typical hazardous areas found onboard normal commercial tankers and gas carriers,” says DESMI Ocean Guard Technical Manager  Mark Kalhøj. “The general protection principle used is purge and pressurization, which means all potential ignition sources are covered by enclosures that are purged and pressurized with air in order to maintain an overpressure inside the enclosures. This way gas cannot access the enclosures and get close to potential ignition sources. The overpressure is constantly monitored and if it disappears the RayClean-EX system will automatically de-energize immediately.”