January 2020 is considered to change the situation concerning air quality treatment in cities with large ports, and it will bring citizens a bit of fresh air in the nearest future. Thus, according to a new air pollution standard, all the ships arriving at ports should have special cleaning devices that allow significantly reducing the level of fuel emissions.

The fact is that ship vehicles emit numerous sulfur oxides or SOx gases during the process of burning, and SOx air pollution, in its turn, can provoke respiratory difficulties and lung disease and can react with the water in clouds to cause acid rains. That is why, according to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO), the maximum allowable level of sulfur air pollutants is 0.5 percent comparing to the previous 3.5 percent.

Despite the fact that such a limitation is good for human health and the environment, the shipping industry faces some challenges. Herewith, ship owners confirm that it is highly difficult and expensive to meet this air quality standard and its deadline. Today there are only two solutions to the air pollution problem.

The first solution to air quality treatment for shipping companies is the use of low-sulfur fuel. Nevertheless, its cost is more expensive than traditional fuel, and still requires testing on safety and efficiency. The second option is the installation of scrubbing systems, a special tool for air treatment that uses either water or chemicals, or both (if it comes to hybrid wet air scrubber).

It should be noted that wet scrubbers turn SOx exhaust into sulfuric acid, and then into removable sulfate salts. So, the deadline of air pollution standard forces ship operators to buy or get in line for scrubbing system installation. However, wet scrubbing systems may present a significant expense, to be precise, for small ship companies and ship vehicles.

At the same time, the installation of a scrubber is cheaper than the additional cost from a couple of years’ worth of low-sulfur fuel. That is why, some small companies prefer to use open-loop scrubbing systems, which discharge their wastewater into the ocean. Usually, they are cheaper and smaller than closed-loop wet scrubbers, because there is no need to store wastes.

Nonetheless, some countries, for example, Singapore and China banned open-loop scrubbing systems because of sea environmental concerns. The thing is that water waste discharge from open-loop scrubbers may change ocean water chemistry by increasing ocean acidification. Finally, the use of open-loop wet scrubbing systems remains a source of conflict, but they are considered to be the most effective and save air treatment device among other air pollution control equipment at the present time.

If you search for the best air treatment device to improve air quality, you can buy a high-tech completely new type of wet scrubber – a Multi-Vortex wet air scrubber produced by Redwood Technology.

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