Scrubber industry launches code of conduct

The Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association (EGCSA) took the decision at its first annual general meeting, held in London on October 29, to develop guidelines for a code of conduct, and also highlighted the ‘black carbon’ issue.

The guidelines are intended to sustain the integrity of the EGCSA and its members, as well as to promote the viability of marine scrubbing technology as a means of meeting current and future emissions standards. EGCSA chairman Don Gregory says that he recognises that scrubbing, despite its clear benefits, is still treated with a degree of scepticism by certain parts of the maritime community. He hopes that the EGCSA, as an authoritative and progressive body, will engender greater confidence. He hopes that by offering a code of conduct with clear guidelines, potential customers will be assured that the EGCSA members have a high level of professional integrity, and will be able to meet any claims made for their products.

Gregory said that significant progress and development has been achieved in the association’s first year of operation. This should be consolidated under the guidelines, which not only set criteria for membership of the EGCSA, but create a standard of integrity and independence for exhaust gas cleaning systems, proving their operational functionality within the market.

A key element of the code will be to commit EGCSA members to always provide accurate and substantiated information to the market, ensuring that any significant claim with regards to the companies’ technologies can be verified by a competent and authoritative industry body or peer group.

Other guidelines cover topics such as health and safety, and commitments to commerciality.

Gregory commented: “The case for exhaust gas cleaning systems as an effective technology for meeting environmental legislation is beyond doubt. However, success will be derived from ensuring that there is clear synergy between the theory and the operational capabilities of the technologies in the field. The onus on manufacturers to continue this process of substantiation in the next year is critical in creating the market for scrubbing technology; and providing a framework, which sets a minimum benchmark of excellence, is a key element of achieving this.”

Exhaust gas scrubbers are an acceptable solution to sulphur emissions limits under both IMO MEPC and US EPA guidelines. There are several different types of scrubbers, and Gregory points out that there is no single solution is likely to prove better than another – different methods suit different situations and operational patterns. Indeed, for some shipowners, the use of distillate fuel, as widely suggested, is likely to prove optimal. But as the industry is not currently capable of refining the amounts of MDO or MGO that would be needed for all ships, other solutions must be found, and scrubbers provide such a solution.

Moreover, according to Gregory, the previously largely-overlooked black carbon emissions are likely to come under the spotlight soon. Black carbon is second only to carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change, and some environmentalists believe that reduction of black carbon emissions is likely to provide a quicker, simpler, more practical, and more effective way of preventing global warming in the short-to-medium term than limiting carbon emissions. Although few figures are available – NOAA is currently studying the effects of black carbon in the Arctic – shipping is thought to be a major source of black carbon pollution, and changing to low sulphur or distillate fuel will make a negligible difference.

Current exhaust gas scrubbing technologies have a positive effect on soot and particulate matter, which are very closely related to black carbon, but their ability to handle the much smaller black carbon particles remains uncertain. Further development could provide a solution, but in any case, thanks to the much cleaner gas provided by scrubbing, other simple means like post-scrubber filtration should be able to eliminate most of the black carbon.