World’s first rectangular design for scrubbers

A large-scale rectangular marine Scrubber was unveiled by MHI and MHPS at the “Nor-Shipping 2017” maritime trade show in Oslo, Norway. The companies claim that the adoption of a rectangular box-shape configuration is a ‘world’s first’ and  is able to offer outstanding ease of installation in small spaces and superlative emissions treatment for high-output engines.

Furthermore, the new scrubber is able to purify exhaust gas emitted from inexpensive heavy fuel oil to a level equivalent to more expensive low-sulfur fuels, and has been designed to allow easy installation on existing ships.

The new SOx scrubber uses seawater as its cleaning agent, adopting a simple “open-loop” system in which seawater intake is sprayed directly on the exhaust gas. Effective use of seawater alkaline eliminates the need for chemicals or additional processing.

According to manufacturers, due to the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the rectangular scrubber tower, scrubber’s volume efficiency is higher than previous cylindrical scrubbers, providing space savings. The equipment configuration is simple, allowing easy installation not only in newly commissioned ships but in retrofitted vessels as well.

The scrubber’s main unit can be set into the upper deck’s engine casing, meaning it doesn’t encroach on the ship’s load space. This is particularly beneficial for large-scale container ships that use a “twin island” design structure.

Deliveries of the scrubber are expected from 2020 and, in preparation, both companies will seek certification from selected countries while conducting extensive tests on ships.