A growing number of ship owners are choosing UV ballast water treatment over electrochlorination, even for large ballast water flows. Today’s UV treatment competes easily on footprint and energy consumption, which makes advantages like chemical-free operation, zero corrosion risk and efficiency at low salinities and temperatures even more attractive. Until now, however, the move towards UV has been less noticeable among bulkers.

Peter Sahlén

“Bulkers have a unique ballasting and deballasting profile, because they load and unload at significantly different rates,” says Peter Sahlén, Head of Alfa Laval PureBallast. “The PureBallast 3 bulker-fit configuration differentiates the two flows, which reduces CAPEX while preserving the many other advantages of UV treatment, such as lower OPEX. That gives bulker owners a strong alternative to electrochlorination.”

No ballasting overcapacity means less CAPEX

Bulkers often load their cargo at twice the rate they unload it, which means deballasting occurs at twice the ballasting speed. The PureBallast 3 bulker-fit configuration addresses this issue by independently dimensioning the reactor and filtration capacities. Since the filter stage is only needed during ballasting, it is dimensioned for the slower ballasting flow. This not only reduces OPEX and the already small system footprint, but also eliminates ballasting overcapacity and a substantial amount of investment cost.

Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 Bulker-Fit

“The PureBallast 3 bulker-fit configuration matches UV strengths to bulkers’ actual flow needs,” says Sahlén. “Bulker owners who have seen electrochlorination as the only fit for their operating profile now have cost-efficient access to the substantial advantages of UV treatment.”