Wärtsilä installs waste system on cruise ship

On board the Regal Princess, the solution will enable the safe disposal of waste from the ship through a self-fuelling thermal decomposition unit, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will also lessen the requirement to offload waste at shore facilities.

“Wärtsilä and Carnival have cooperated closely on numerous projects over the years, and we have delivered a number of advanced waste treatment systems for their vessels,” said Jason Hardy, head of sales, advanced waste management (retrofit), Wärtsilä Marine.

“Our experience with the Auto Gasification technology will help support them in their focus on efficiency and environmental sustainability,” he added.

The Wärtsilä supplied gasification unit will replace one of the vessel’s onboard incinerators, and will safely dispose of hazardous, contaminated, and dry burnable waste in an environmentally sustainable way.

The emissions quality from this system exceed the standards of land based thermal destruction, and treating waste on board the vessel rather than offloading in port significantly reduces the environmental impact. Furthermore, as the system recovers energy from the waste heat being produced by the thermal destruction process, additional energy and emission savings will be gained.

The auto gasification process will reduce the ship’s waste to less than 5% of the original volume, and will produce Bio Char, a sterilised inert material, and synthesis gas, which is recycled within the unit as fuel.

Wärtsilä is scheduled to deliver the equipment in January 2020.