New ballast treatment system

NYK confirmed some positive research and development results in the purification system it has been trying to establish for ballast water (patent applied for). Since last summer, a “Cavitation method” (a phenomenon of rapidly occurring effervescence due to a sudden fluctuations in pressure) for this purification system has been explored by the NYK Trading Corp., S-MACH Engineering Corp. and Masuda Research Inc. The system characteristics are as follows: Use of a vessel’s own steam. “Built-in pipe” assembly configured in consideration for narrow engine room space. Aquatic organisms destroyed by physical antisepsis, the result of cavitation caused by steam. Antiseptic effectiveness increased through the additional use of a modicum of ozone that generates a synergistic chemical antisepsis. NYK confirmed the effect of the system at the Liason Center of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (the former Tokyo University of Fisheries), together with Fuyo Ocean Development and Engineering Co., Ltd. The experiment involved eliminating the zooplankton Artemia from test ballast water at a flow rate of 30 tons per hour (about one tenth of actual ballast flow rates). The results of the experiment indicate 83% effective treatment in the primary stage, and almost 100% effective treatment in the secondary stage.