New Area of Operation for UV Ballast Water Treatment

In January 2015, the business unit Mechanical Separation of GEA (Germany) was awarded the first contract for equipping cruise liners with the UV ballast water treatment system BallastMaster marineX, powered by Trojan Marinex. The contract with a European shipyard comprises equipping two new vessels with one BallastMaster marineX each as well as an option for equipping a third cruise liner. The IMO-certified system with a throughput capacity of 500 m3/h features two-phase operation with mechanical prefiltration and subsequent disinfection of the ballast water by UV treatment without using and generating
chemicals. The scope of delivery also includes ten separators for fuel and lube oil treatment of the type
OSE with CFR (Certified Flow Rate) and two ViscoBooster units for optimum fuel conditioning.

With the cruise shipping business, GEA developed a new area of operation for UV ballast water
treatment systems in September 2014 at the SMM, only three months after the launch of the innovative
BallastMaster marine system, powered by Trojan Marinex. “The cruise industry has been booming
without interruption for many years with the result of full order books at the shipyards. More than 30 new
maritime cruise liners are expected to undock by the end of 2018. This is an extremely interesting new
market for our new product line of UV ballast water treatment which we have now extended to include
the BallastMaster marine, and we intend to continue to consistently process this market“, says Michael
Fibbe, Key Account Manager Cruise of the business line marine & energy.

The patented BallastMaster marineX systems developed in cooperation with the Canadian company Trojan Technologies, the world market leader for UV systems, has been specifically developed for onboard ballast water treatment. It is characterized by its compact design, which also reliably removes high concentrations of organisms and sediment particles. The integration of filtration and UV treatment in one unit produces synergy effects in terms of operating costs and performance efficiency. The water flows directly through the filter without any connecting lines to the UV treatment unit – the flow is consistent and pressure loss is minimal. The result is an easy to operate system with reduced power consumption, lower space requirement and low pressure requirements for backflushing. “For operators of large cruise liners, this aspect, together with the low overall operating costs, the low maintenance costs and the use without hazardous materials, are convincing reasons to decide in favour of the efficient UV-based solution of GEA“, says Michael Fibbe. The system can be configured in a flexible manner and is thus also suitable for retrofitting in existing cruise liners.

The BallastMaster marineX, powered by Trojan Marinex, has the IMO type approval as well as the
USCG AMS acceptance in accordance with the ETV ballast water test protocol (Environmental
Technology Verification) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The extremely
efficient system has been extensively tested and is approved to the lowest level of UV permeability (poor
water quality) with maximum flow rate. This is applicable for all three salt level contents: Fresh water,
brackish water and seawater.