Ionada Installs Marine Scrubber Technology at Chinese shipyard

Concord, Ontario’s Ionada Inc. has announced that it has completed the installation of its 6 MW Membrane Scrubber exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) for MG Management’s RO-RO (roll on, roll off) carrier, the NOLHANAVA, at COSCO Nantong Shipyards in Nantong, China.
Last August, Ionada announced that it had won the contract to supply its Membrane Scrubber to outfit the NOLHANAVA after having successfully concluded a sequence of bulk carrier Sea Trials.
Ionada’s membrane scrubber involves dry membrane gas separation and salt water or ionic liquids. It requires no chemicals and removes sulphur oxides using ionic capture technology.
Ionada claims that its EGCS technology is 50% smaller and 30% more efficient than comparable available technology.
“We would like to thank both COSCO and MG Management for their support and expertise in helping make the Membrane Scrubber installation such a resounding success” said Ionada CEO Edoardo Panziera. “We look forward to completing the commissioning of the Membrane Scrubber during the next few weeks and publishing the test results.”
The implementation of scrubber technology for the shipping industry is going to be increasingly important as the Emission Control Area (ECA), covering North American and Western European waters, implements a 0.5% global sulphur cap for marine fuel to be enforced between 2020 and 2025.
The marine scrubber technology helps companies meet ECA requirements while saving on fuel costs and preventing environmental challenges related to overboard discharge and simplifying the retrofit installation process.
The Chinese government has already implemented its own emission control area to cover major transportation waterways, including the Pearl River, Yangtze River Delta, and Jing-jin-ji Bohai Sea Rim Region.
The second phase of China’s emission control area was implemented just recently, on April 1, for five core ports in Shanghai, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Suzhou and Nantong.
The recent signing of a Strategic Cooperation Agreement between COSCO Shipyard Group Co. Ltd. and Jiangsu Ionada Environmental Protection Technology Co. Ltd., which is responsible for manufacturing and selling Ionada’s Membrane Scrubber systems in China, lays the groundwork for their implementation in other Chinese shipyard operations.