The use of heavy fuels in maritime shipping positions the industry as the primary contributor to air pollution. Currently, ship owners plan to address pollution through air treatment utilizing scrubber systems. Gas scrubbers are air treatment devices that remove pollution from exhaust gases, designed to meet air pollution control requirements and to overcome global pollution.

Until recently, the marine wet scrubber market faced certain limitations, but this situation has evolved. The main reason is that wet scrubbers are viewed as costly specialized air treatment devices. However, demand have increased over the past six years. Estimates suggest that the wet scrubber sector will sell 3254 units annually by 2023.

The immediate driver behind this increase is regarded as IMO 2020 (a set of regulations from the International Maritime Organisation), according to which all ship owners must reduce emissions levels from 0.5% to 0.1%. The possible solutions are the use of low sulfur fuel (that has a more expensive price) or the use of scrubber systems.

The majority of shipowners opt to install scrubbers to comply with air pollution regulations instead of purchasing low-sulfur fuel and ships designed to use it. Wet air scrubbers are the most widespread in the market. Wet scrubbers treat fumes by forcing them through a liquid (water or special solution) or spraying them to remove pollutant particles. Thus, it is expected that wet air scrubber systems will represent  90% of the market by the end of 2028.

Shipowners confirm that “it is cheaper to install a scrubber into a new ship than to retrofit it onto an old one, and new build installations are expected to grow faster than retrofitting”. Open and closed-loop scrubber systems are ddifferentiated. While in open-loop scrubbers the neutralized treated water is discharged into the sea, closed-loop scrubbers store it until a ship arrives at a special discharge area.

Additionally, a new type of scrubber is considered to be highly promising which is the “naked scrubber”. This hybrid scrubber system offers such an advantage as a relatively lightweight and greatly reduces the weight of infrastructure for the installation. Therefore, the need to strengthen a ship structure before the wet scrubber installation passes and the time of its installation becomes shorter. Also, with IMO 2020 arrival, wet scrubber manufacturers already look promising to investors.

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