Ten years of Pure Thinking
When Pure Thinking was introduced as a concept in 2004, Alfa Laval solutions were already associated with high efficiency and the reduction of waste. However, there was a growing sense that more would soon be called for when it came to the environment. Indeed, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, adopted by IMO earlier that year, proved to be just one of the seemingly insurmountable hurdles placed before ship owners and operators.
“Ballast water treatment was on everyone’s minds a decade ago, in much the way that emission control is today,” says Peter Leifland, President Marine & Diesel Division. “There were others besides Alfa Laval with a ballast water solution in development, but already then we were looking at a much bigger picture. We anticipated more and tougher environmental legislation in the years to come, and we knew our customers would have to meet it without damage to their business. Pure Thinking became the platform for meeting that need.”
As the name suggests, Pure Thinking began as a strong vision, with only a handful of finalized products and much that was still in the idea stage. PureBallast, for example, was not yet named and just setting out on its first trials at sea. But the formulation of a goal and a systematic approach would prove the key to addressing legislative demands. Ten years later, with US ballast water regulations already in place and Emission Control Areas (ECAs) soon entering into force, Alfa Laval’s environmental portfolio is a concrete offering prepared for an increasingly concrete reality.
Meeting the emission challenge
Like energy efficiency, which has both environmental and monetary aspects, today’s most pressing environmental issue is one heavily influenced by fuel costs. With Emission Control Areas (ECAs) for SOx appearing in January 2015, and ECAs for NOx to follow in 2016, the fuel costs associated with emission compliance are on every operator’s mind. Once again, competitive solutions can be found in the Pure Thinking portfolio, where PureVent, Alfa Laval’s unique air separator for cleaning crankcase gas, is now joined by PureSOx and PureNOx.
Launched in 2012, the PureSOx scrubber system allows vessels to meet SOx limits while continuing to use HFO, rather than switching to a more expensive, low-sulphur fuel. Having quickly established itself as a SOx abatement leader, the system is used extensively as a main engine scrubber and can be found in installations as large as 28 MW. “PureSOx is proven at sea and has more reference installations than any other single SOx scrubber technology,” says Leifland. “Whereas other suppliers have developed or even purchased multiple scrubber technologies, Alfa Laval has continuously optimized the original PureSOx platform, which draws on our more than 40 years of marine scrubber experience and our separation expertise for wash water cleaning.”
Wash water cleaning is also in focus with PureNOx, which performs this vital function as part of a complete Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) solution. EGR is developed by MAN Diesel & Turbo for their low speed engines. “PureNOx safeguards the EGR solution’s efficiency, protects the engine components and enables the discharge of excess water in accordance with IMO criteria.” says Leifland. Aboard two container vessels from A.P. Moller-Maersk, installations with PureNOx have already logged around 3500 hours of successful EGR operation.
To learn more about PureThinking solutions and Alfa Laval’s approach to environmental protection, visit www.alfalaval.com/marine
