Langh Tech gains USCG type approval for “one-way” BWMS

Written by Nick Blenkey
Langh Tech BWMS

The UV-reactor in the LanghBW is unique in the way in which it can be opened for cleaning, says Langh Tech design engineer Joakim Keihäs.

Finland’s Langh Tech Oy Ab has now obtained USCG Type Approval for its LanghBW ballast water management system. The system is based on fine filtration combined with UV treatment with an innovative reactor design that allows easy maintenance and installation flexibility.

The U.S. approval comes just four months after the system successfully completed IMO type approval. That made LanghBW one of the few systems receiving approval for treating marine water only at intake in IMO areas, allowing free deballasting without energy being needed for treatment.

“We are proud to announce being the first maker to have one-way treatment also approved by USCG, significantly reducing time and energy needed for ballasting operations,” says Langh Tech product manager Kim Tervonen. “This feature is especially impactful when operating in turbid waters where systems often need to restrict flowrate and treatment can take a long time both during ballasting and deballasting. With one-way treatment there are none of the restrictions typical for UV systems when deballasting, allowing even deballasting by gravity.”

Langh Tech says that while one-way treatment provides the most significant reduction in operating costs by directly cutting the energy consumption of the system, it also increases the lifetime of the main consumable, the UV lamps, since they do not need to be ignited for deballasting operations.

The USCG approval, granted on September 15t, includes models LanghBW300 and LanghBW600 for treating ballast water up to 300 and 600 cubic meters per hour respectively. Models up to 1,500 cubic meters per hour are scheduled to be amended to obtain the approval by the end of 2022.

The UV-reactor is unique in the way in which it can be opened for cleaning, saus Langh Tech design engineer Joakim Keihäs.

“All of the UV-lamps with their protective quartz sleeves will slide out from the reactor in a cassette, you can think of it as if pulling out a drawer, no tools needed,” he says. “This allows system operators to easily clean the lamp sleeves manually, which in our experience is the most reliable way to get them fully cleaned. After cleaning you just push the cassette back in and you are good to go, the whole cleaning operation taking only a few minutes.”

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