USCG approval for BIO-UV Group’s new M-Series BWTS

BIO-UV Group received the certification in December 2021 following successful tests under DNV supervision of its BIO-SEA M-Series BWTS. IMO approval had already been granted in September.

“Technically, the core components and disinfection performance of the M-Series are identical to the B-Series, which received IMO approval in 2017 and USCG type approval in 2018. But because we have designed a new reactor, we needed an updated type-approval certificate,” said Charlène Ceresola, BWT project manager, BIO-SEA by BIO-UV Group.

Unveiled in June 2021, the BIO-SEA M-Series system has been specifically designed to optimise the footprint and installation costs of a medium flow rate ballast water treatment system. The M-Series incorporates fewer UV lamps and is said to have the lowest height requirement than any other UV-based systems in the market. Testing also confirmed that an equal or higher UV dose can be achieved using the ‘M’ reactor compared to the earlier design.

“The previously approved B-Series incorporates a mono-lamp reactor, and several ‘B’ reactors need to be mounted in parallel to reach high treatment rates. This requires specific manifolds for hydraulic balance, which can take a significant footprint,” continued Ms Ceresola.

“The new BIO-SEA M-Series, however, is based on multi-lamp reactors, equipped with two to seven lamps in a single chamber, allowing a more compact design for the same capacity of treatment. A maximum of two reactors are installed in parallel.”

The BIO-SEA M-series is available as a modular or skid system and, as of January 2022, the company has a current order book of more than 100 BIO-SEA units, almost twice as many as the corresponding period last year.