According to the IMO’s sulfur regulations, all shipowners have to install scrubbing systems by 2020. That is why now more and more container ships (about 30 per month)  will be taken out of service for the installation of wet air scrubbers. Herewith, open-loop scrubbers are forbidden. Nevertheless, not all shipowners accept new rules and require a science-based approach in debates concerning scrubbing systems.

There is an opinion that this change follows commercial motivations, and therefore, the UK Chamber of Shipping calls for certainty based on facts in the debate concerning open-loop scrubbers. Moreover, new doubts have appeared about the fact of whether scrubbing technology cleaning ships exhaust virtually reduces air pollution control.

Thus, several stakeholders confirm that wash water from open-loop scrubbing systems could harm the sea environment and that there is a risk of moving air pollution to the marine one instead. Wet air scrubbers help to achieve compliance with the 2020 regulations even though modern gas cleaning systems are not ideal technology yet.

Herewith, at the present shipowners have already ordered more than 700 wet scrubbing systems all over the world. According to the latest news, almost 200 scrubbers will be installed on new ship vehicles, while the rest will be re-equipped onto existing vehicles. Nowadays around 50 ships have wet air scrubbers as exhaust gas cleaning systems.

It should be mentioned that the process of scrubber installation takes 30-50 days per ship vehicle, which is why not all ships will be ready to meet 2020 IMO regulations. However, this is not the only challenge which shipowners will face very soon.

The alternative variant for shipowners is the use of low-sulfur fuel, but it is highly expensive. For example, recently World Fuel Services succeeded in increasing its level of earnings in 2019 even though it sold less ship fuel. It means that fuel companies make prices higher.

Consequently, wet air scrubbing systems remain the best solution for air treatment and increased air quality. If you want to achieve greater cost efficiency compared to other air pollution control devices, check out a high-tech completely new type of wet air scrubber – a Multi-Vortex wet air scrubber produced by Redwood Technology.

The Multi-Vortex wet scrubber offers several advantages such as compact size, it is economical (can be made of plastic and does not require additional components), eco-friendly, it requires low maintenance, and can use contaminated water for cleaning.

If you are looking for the best air treatment device to improve air quality, Redwood Technology offers a cutting-edge type of wet scrubber – a Multi-Vortex wet air scrubber.

Redwood technology is a fast-growing vendor of wet air scrubbers. The multi-vortex scrubber can remove gas emissions, dust, vapors, and other pollutants from a gas stream. It is an innovative technology created to save water that makes it more cost-efficient and differs from other types of scrubbers.  If you have any questions or would like to purchase a multi-vortex wet air scrubber, please contact us at info@rdwd.tech