The use of ballast water in ships creates problems for the environment, if not treated. The problems occur due to the delicate balance of local eco systems being affected by non-indigenous species and aquatic nuisance organisms that are introduced after travelling with ships from their start point in their ballast water.
One of the solutions to this problem is to use ozone to treat the ballast water before it is released. Due to the oxidation properties of ozone, it is able to destroy bacteria and viruses. When used to treat ballast water, ozone inactivates microorganisms such as phytoplankton and zooplankton, present in the ballast water before release, resulting in a greatly reduced number of non-indigenous species discharged into the new ecosystem. The ozone treatment also allows the ballast water to be recycled and reused.
A method to treat ballast water comprises injecting ozone into water loading into a sea faring vessel prior to charging the water into a ballast tank; and charging the ozone injected water into the ballast tank. A system for treating ballast water comprises a sea faring vessel including at least one ballast tank; an ozone generator that generates ozone, a ballast water conduit that uptakes water through a loading port of a sea faring vessel and conducts the water to load the ballast tank; and an ozone feed line that injects ozone from the generator into water in the conduit at an injection point located upstream to an intersection of the conduit with the ballast tank.
30 сен 2024
