DeNora Balpure BWMS gains U.S. Type Approval

Dr Stelios Kyriacou, General Manager of Balpure BWMS, De Nora

DECEMBER 19, 2019 — The U.S, Coast Guard Marine Safety Center has issued its fifteenth 15th Ballast Water Management System Type Approval Certificate to De Nora Water Technologies Texas, LLC, after a detailed review of the manufacturer’s type approval application determined the system met the requirements of the regulations.

The Coast Guard says the treatment principle of the Balpure BWMS consists of filtration with electrolysis during uptake and neutralization during discharge approval covers models with maximum treatment rated capacities between 400 cu.m/h and 8,570 /h.

De Nora says the Balpure system has been approved for both safe area and hazardous zone installations for internationally trading vessels including U.S.-flagged vessels.

De Nora is the originator and patent holder of electrochlorination disinfection of ballast water through the slipstream method. In De Nora’s proprietary system design, only 0.5% to 1% of the seawater flow entering the ballast line needs to be channelled into the electrochemical unit. The necessary amount of hypochlorite required to treat the water is generated in the slipstream and is then mixed to the full volume of ballast water. This offers an effective solution for ships with large ballast tanks and high pumping rates, particularly large tankers, bulkers and LNG carriers, voiding the requirement to store hypochlorite onboard, achieving increased efficiency and avoiding waste. The combination of the slipstream approach, the use of patented reverse polarity electrodes and the variable biocide dosing provide a cost effective yet flexible BWTS suitable for both new build and retrofit projects.

Dr Stelios Kyriacou, General Manager, De Nora Ballast Water Management Systems commented: “De Nora has spent a long time working towards this type approval and we are delighted that our certification by the USCG has now been granted. Our team has worked hard to ensure owners and operators can partner with De Nora for their ballast water treatment needs in full confidence that we will deliver safe and reliable ballast water compliance for the lifetime of their ship. The flexible configuration of the Balpure system makes it suitable for new build and retrofit projects alike, whilst the operational adaptability delivers significant OPEX benefits over competing technologies.

“Testing with several filters and confirming we meet all the safety requirements for US-flagged vessels are just a few of the processes we’ve gone through to ensure our customers can depend on De Nora to live up to its promises. As a global, multi-national with 95 years’ pedigree, De Nora has the electrochlorination credentials, the economies of scale, and the service network to offer ship owners total confidence in their future compliance with the Ballast Water Convention and USCG rules”.

The De Nora Balpure system was previously identified by the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) as one of three systems that demonstrated the ability to meet a standard 10 times more stringent than the IMO D-2 standard. The shipboard testing of De Nora Balpure was conducted on a U.S.-flagged Aframax tanker operating on the west coast of the United States that has been ballasting and deballasting with the Balpure system in the regulated waters of California and Alaska on a regular basis for several years.