Affiliation(s)
1. Machinery System Team, S&SYS, Busan 46727, Korea
2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
3. KOMERI, Busan 49111, Korea
ABSTRACT
The IMO (International Maritime Organization) recognized
the problem of invasive species invasion and adopted the “International Convention for the Control and Management of
Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments” in 2004, which came into force on September
8, 2017. In 2011, the IMO approved the “Guidelines for the Control and
Management of Ships’ Biofouling to Minimize the Transfer of Invasive Aquatic
Species” to minimize the movement of invasive species by hull-attached
organisms and required ships to manage the organisms attached to their hulls. Invasive species enter new environments through
ships’ ballast water and hull attachment. However, several obstacles to
implementing these guidelines have been identified, including a lack of
underwater cleaning equipment, regulations on underwater cleaning activities in ports, and difficulty in
accessing crevices in underwater areas. The shipping industry, which is the
party responsible for understanding these guidelines, wants to implement
them for fuel cost savings resulting from the removal of organisms attached to
the hull, but they anticipate significant difficulties in implementing the
guidelines due to the obstacles mentioned above. Robots or people remove the
organisms attached to the hull underwater, and the resulting wastewater
includes various species of organisms and particles of paint and other
pollutants. Currently, there is no technology available to sterilize the
organisms in the wastewater or stabilize the heavy metals in the paint
particles. In this study, we aim to analyse the characteristics of the
wastewater generated from the removal of hull-attached organisms and select the
optimal treatment technology. The organisms in the wastewater generated from
the removal of the attached organisms meet the biological treatment standard
(D-2) using the sterilization technology applied in the ships’ ballast water treatment system. The heavy metals and other
pollutants in the paint particles generated during removal are treated using
stabilization technologies such as thermal decomposition. The wastewater
generated is treated using a two-step process: (1) development of sterilization
technology through pretreatment filtration equipment and electrolytic
sterilization treatment and (2) development of technology for removing particle
pollutants such as heavy metals and dissolved inorganic substances. Through
this study, we will develop a biological removal technology and an
environmentally friendly processing system for the waste generated after
removal that meets the requirements of the government and the shipping industry
and lay the groundwork for future treatment standards.
KEYWORDS
Biofouling, ballast water treatment system, filtration, sterilization,
wastewater.
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