First Order for Membrane SOx Scrubber

Marine scrubber manufacturer Ionada Incorporated has won a contract to supply its membrane scrubber to MG Management's RO-RO carrier, the Nolhanava.

The technology has also been shortlisted for the Environmental Technology Award at the 2015 Ship Efficiency Awards hosted by Lloyd’s Register.

Traditional scrubbers are tower system, where either sea water or NaOH solutions are sprayed into the exhaust path. This alkaline solution reacts with the sulphur and is then directed to a wash water cleaning system to remove the oils and carbon particles that are captured in the exhaust. This discharge water must then be disposed of. 

In contrast, Ionada's system uses membrane technology resulting in a zero discharge system that is 50 percent smaller and 30 percent more energy efficient than wet scrubbers.

Its Membrane Scrubber technology contains the absorption fluid (NaOH) in micro-porous ceramic membranes. Installed in the exhaust, after the economizer, the sulphur is stripped from the exhaust as pure sodium sulphite salts. This dramatically reduces the amount of by-product produced with traditional spray towers, either closed or open loop.

The salts are stored on-board and discharged in port. Because of the pure nature of the sodium sulphite, it has further applications in a number of industries such as paper making, photography and food preservation.   

Membrane Scrubber technology therefore eliminates complicated wash water systems, monitoring systems, overboard valves and future-proofs the vessel owner form expanding zero discharge regulations.

The company’s Membrane Scrubber product has the advantage of:
Zero Wash Water Discharge
No PAH discharge
No turbidity discharge
No pH discharge
Fully VGP Compliant
No risk of being banned from operation in any port due to discharge restrictions.
No sludge disposal fees
Scale to any engine size 

Yvon Dufour of MG Management stated; "As a company operating in Atlantic Canada we understand the importance of protecting our ocean resources. We chose Ionada and their Membrane Scrubber for their the green environmental solution and their strong commitment to implementing the technology on our vessel”

“MG Management is a highly capable partner with a strong interest in seeing Canadian developed and engineered marine scrubber technology move forward,” said Ionada CEO, Edoardo Panziera.  

“This first commercial order marks an important milestone event in the history of our company. We are honored to have been awarded this opportunity" continued Panziera.

Ionada will deliver the 6MW Membrane Scrubber in the fourth quarter of 2015.