Turner Designs Hydrocarbon Instruments has developed the TD-5100 ECA scrubber wash water overboard discharge monitor, which helps protect the environment from high levels of contamination in exhaust-gas scrubber wash water discharge.

The monitor is ready for January 1 2015, when the low sulfur fuel rule goes into effect.

Marine exhaust-gas scrubbing systems for heavy-fuel oil burning ships are becoming more common, with various configurations including open loop, closed loop and hybrid systems. Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, along with particulates and unburned hydrocarbons, are removed into the very high volumes of wash water, which are sprayed into the exhaust scrubber system.

The wash water can be a combination of seawater with a natural buffer capacity and / or fresh water with a buffer added to neutralise the acids that are formed when sulfur comes into contact with the water. The contaminated wash water is then discharged directly to the sea or contained and treated before discharge, depending on the system and the specific rules that apply to that situation.

With the exhaust contaminants then contained in the water phase, the environment must be protected from abnormally high discharges.

The TD-5100 monitor provides PAH, turbidity and temperature, with input for pH, all in one monitor. It covers the entire range of concentrations and is self-cleaning, while operators can validate operation for Port State Control inspectors or management onboard at any time. It is rugged, marinised and uses the same user-dictated design philosophy of every Turner Designs Hydrocarbon Instruments monitor.

For more information, visit http://www.oilinwatermonitors.com/products/td-5100-eca.