Emissions white paper: 'To Scrub or Not to Scrub?'

The following is text of a news release from Rivertrace:

(REDHILL, England) — Ahead of the coming global sulfur cap restrictions that will impose a ban on all marine fuels with more than 0.5 percent sulfur content from Jan. 1, 2020, the developer of smart water quality monitoring technology, Rivertrace Ltd., has published a technical white paper that focuses on scrubber technology options and washwater monitoring.
 
Titled "To Scrub or Not to Scrub?," the white paper provides the industry with a need-to-know guide to all options for compliance, with particular focus on scrubbers and IMO washwater monitoring guidelines. The paper also explores the impact of sulfur emissions from ships, the chemistry of scrubbing sulfur from exhaust gases, and the benefits associated with scrubber use.
 
As the global shipping industry prepares for the arrival of the global sulfur cap in January 2020, the choice between compliance options to meet fuel sulfur content restrictions is fast becoming a reality for shipowners.
 
Rivertrace, as an advocate for environmental compliance, is working to ensure that shipowners are well informed on current guidelines for scrubber washwater monitoring as the debate around the use of scrubbers by ships rages on. In publishing the new white paper, Rivertrace has issued an advisory to shipowners that during the selection of a scrubber technology, careful consideration of what washwater monitoring equipment is used by the scrubber manufacturer is of vital importance to ensure potential regulatory requirements are met in the future.

“We have seen recent bans on scrubber operation in some ports because of the washwater discharge issue," said Mike Coomber, managing director of Rivertrace. "However, there is acceptance that the continued use of scrubbers by ships may depend on being able to prove that washwater quality is constantly monitored and shown to meet appropriate standards.
 
“The fact that scrubber washwater remains to be the only discharge of its type not subject to the same standards as discharges from other shipboard systems means that it will almost inevitably lead the requirement of mandatory monitoring. Therefore, shipowners must be well informed of washwater monitoring equipment options and those used by scrubber manufacturers in order to ensure compliance with future standards.” 
 
The full paper is available to view here.

By Professional Mariner Staff