Austria-headed international technology group Andritz AG and Belgium-headed advanced materials and specialty chemicals major Solvay S.A have announced that the innovative "Bicar" dry exhaust gas cleaning system designed to comply with the new sulphur emission regulations issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for maritime vessels has been certified successfully by DNV GL.
These achievements and certifications are crucial milestones for the future of this technology and confirm the combined know-how of both companies in exhaust gas cleaning systems. It will allow the shipping vessels to continue to use high-sulphur heavy fuel oils while drastically reducing their sulphur and fine particles emissions, which will improve the quality of the air very significantly, with a positive impact on human health.
The Bicar dry exhaust gas cleaning system was installed on the RoPAx ferry “Piana” operated by the French ferry company La Méridionale and has been operating successfully since being commissioned in April 2019. According to Andritz, the initial results are “very promising.”
Dry cleaning system
The innovative technology uses the “SOLVAir” process principles developed by Solvay teams, using Bicar as the sorbent for sulfur dioxide (SO2) removal, and a pulse jet fabric filter for removal of the sulphates and particulates forming. SOLVAir was recently labeled an “Efficient Solution” by the Solar Impulse Foundation as it protects the environment in a profitable way.
Unlike other exhaust gas cleaning systems installed on maritime vessels, no seawater is used and no wastewater is discharged into the sea.
Andritz was responsible for the design and engineering of the system, delivery of the main equipment, and commissioning, while installation work and operation of the system were the responsibility of La Méridionale.
DNV GL certified compliance
Compliance of this technology and system with regulations that will be enforced as early as January 1, 2020, was confirmed by the Ship Acceptance Test and the MED-G certification awarded for the system by the Norway-headed international classification society DNV GL.
The certificate verifies the conformity of the system with the (EU) 2018/773, item MED/2.10 regulations as well as MARPOL 73/78. Furthermore, an independent third party (CERTAM) assessed the effectiveness of the Bicar dry exhaust gas cleaning system.
According to Andritz, the results are “impressive” and show that the required SOx removal to the lowest values – over 96 percent of SOx removal was achieved easily. In addition, the ability of the system to remove more than 99 percent of particulates and ultra-fine particulates was confirmed.
These figures are “remarkable” and demonstrate the effectiveness of the system.
