DEECON · Innovative After-Treatment System for Marine Diesel Engine Emission Control

The emission of exhaust gases from ships has been recognised as a main source of pollution causing a significant exposure risk to people living close to harbours or coastal areas. In spite of the large contribution to air pollution by maritime transport, this sector has remained largely unregulated until now. The adoption of the new restrictive IMO emission regulations requires modification of the entire commercial fleet that has to be retrofitted with innovative solutions.The aim of this project is to create a novel, modular, on-board, after-treatment unit that combines different sub-units, each of which is optimized to remove a specific primary pollutant (SOx, NOx, PM – including BC, VOC, and CO). This new integrated retrofit system will reduce the environmental footprint of existing and new ships well below the limits imposed by the current and envisaged future regulations, while giving EU marine industry a competitive edge.The system must be designed to avoid or minimise the use of external chemicals, and promote the use of reliable and robust technologies to allow easy maintenance and fast retrofit. The proposal considers the use of innovative processes for the treatment of each pollutant: i) a new concept of Electrostatic Seawater Scrubbing to capture submicron PM, SO2 and other water soluble compounds and ii) an innovative Non Thermal Plasma Reactor, using Electron Beam and Microwave, to remove NOx, VOC and CO. It is envisaged that these two processes are sufficient to successfully remove all gaseous pollutants from ship exhaust. However, if needed, in the final stage, state-of-the-art Selective Catalytic Reduction or NOx Storage Reduction will be implemented for residual NOx removal. The system will also include innovative processes to purify scrubber wash water before discharging into the sea without harming marine life. The outcome of this work programme will yield a technology demonstrator, which will be validated by an independent organisation.""