Date: 2011-01-11
ENWA | The chemical free EnwaMatic® Maritime technology by ENWA Water Treatment has obtained approval from engine manufacturer Wärtsilä.
One of the most critical parameters for maritime engine efficiency and life time is internal corrosion. This is why engine manufacturers provide very clear specifications on the water to be used for cooling.
The instant water enters the cooling system, it causes corrosion, scaling, bacterial contamination and fouling. This has a significant impact on energy consumption, motor components and overall Life Cycle Cost (LCC). No more than 2 mm of rust can reduce heat transfer by 5% across component surfaces. Scale has an even more significant effect on the transfer efficiency with a small 0.5 mm layer generating as much as 4% loss.
When specifying a water treatment regime consideration must be given to its efficacy, its whole life cycle cost, how easily it can be implemented and managed, and what potential risk it presents to personnel and the environment. A major worry for ship owners has been the fact that whenever an engine cooling system or an HVAC system is drained, the water has to be treated as special waste since chemicals are being used to avoid corrosion, scaling and bacteria.
Traditionally, water treatment for engine water is done by adding different types of chemicals to balance the water quality and in order to avoid corrosion damages inside the engine. Doing so, however, can cause localised pitting and accelerate corrosion. Contrary to this, the EnwaMatic technology is based on filtering and treating the water with minerals balancing, removing oxygen and neutralizing the water. The unit is fully automatic while it protects the engine or the HVAC system internals.
The EnwaMatic Maritime water treatment unit combines reproducible principles of water chemistry with standard water treatment technologies. The unit provides effective dirt and air separation with environmentally sound water conditioning. It creates changes in key water parameters, such as pH, alkalinity and hardness, to elicit corrosion inhibition, control of scale formation and a biocidal effect.
The recent approval of the EnwaMatic water treatment system was preceeded by several years approval period with the final test running for 16,378 engine hours. For this reason, the EnwaMatic was installed onboard the Cruise Ferry Color Fantasy, sailing between Oslo in Norway and Kiel in Germany.
Managing Director Bjorn Dorum says: “This approval is a very important acknowledgement of our technology and we are now proud to offer our well-proven EnwaMatic system also to the maritime propulsion industry.â€
In connection with the intense testing period, the shipowner Color Line, operating several cruise ferries, has decided to change all closed loop water systems for engines and HVAC systems on their entire fleet to EnwaMatic Maritime.
