Page 78: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2015)

PRODUCT FEATURES

Hydropath Marine: Scaling-Be-Gone

By Eric Haun hipowners seeking to combat layer of water around the cell. Osmosis the harmful effects of lime scale, then forces water into the bacteria and

Sbacteria, algae and biofouling in- algae cells, creating osmotic pressure side their vessels’ various water systems which ruptures the cell membrane and needn’t look any further than Hydropath causes it to die.

Marine, a chemical-free technology for onboard water treatment. The Bene? ts

The patented Hydropath technology, Commonly applied for fresh water which uses electrical signals to kill algae generators, plumbing systems, heat ex- and bacteria, was initially developed in changers and water heaters, Hydropath the early ’90s to treat lime scale within Marine helps protect onboard water the home, but has since been developed systems against harmful and accumulat- for a dozen different product ranges for ing effects of lime scale, mineral scale both land-based and marine applications, and bio scale as the unit both cleans and serving the maritime sector in particular keeps clean water treatment systems to with the brand Hydropath Marine Ltd. help minimize required maintenance, resulting is minimum downtime and

The Problem improved operation. All of this is done

A liquid solution inside ships’ pipe without the use of damaging chemicals.

systems may contain minerals dissolved “The main advantage here is the re- in the form of ions. When temperature duced maintenance expenditures, both in increases or pressure drops, the solu- material and time,” said Jere Widhalm, tion becomes supersaturated, causing the founder and CEO of D&W Marine Sys- ions to adhere to piping and equipment tems Management, a maritime engineer- surfaces in the form of scale. Over time, ing services company and U.S. distribu- scale accumulates on heat plates along tor of Hydropath Marine. with bio? lm consisting of bacteria, algae “What Hydropath does is that it helps

Green technology provides chemical-free solu- and barnacles, blocking narrow pathways maintain peak ef? ciency for much lon- tion to combat lime scale, bacteria, algae and to cause unwanted insulation, dimin- ger periods of time, which translates to biofouling in ships’ various water systems ished heat transfer ef? ciency, reduced cost savings, a more ef? cient ship and water ? ow and higher energy consump- equipment,” added Tal Journo, CEO of, tion. This means systems will need to be HydroFLOW USA, the U.S. distribu- opened and cleaned, an often time-con- tor of Hydropath Technology. With the suming process that typically requires Hydropath Marine unit installed, ves- the use of hazardous chemicals and can sels’ systems become capable of running be damaging to the plates and seals. more ef? ciently for longer periods of time, meaning owners are able to mini-

The Solution mize expenditure – in this case by avoid-

Hydropath Marine’s water condition- ing the price of less ef? cient systems that ing unit is fairly easily to install as it is will need to be opened up, cleaned and simply ? tted around a pipe as an add-on repaired, demanding chemicals, labor with ferrite rings, resulting in very little and vessel downtime.

downtime with no cutting or plumbing “The worse the scaling and fouling required. There unit is available in vari- problems are on the vessels, the more ous size and power ranges to ? t an as- effective this system is going to be.” sortment of pipe dimensions. Widhalm said. “And one of the great-

Once installed, the Hydropath Marine est things that we’re ? nding about this water conditioner applies a unique elec- system is that its return on investment is trical signal throughout the piping sys- very often one maintenance cycle.” tem (metal or PVC), causing the ions to Widhalm and Journo explained that all form clusters. Now when supersaturation shipowners can bene? t from Hydropath occurs, the clusters precipitate out of the Marine. “Anyone that has a marine ap- solution and form stable crystals which plication that has scale involved – and do not adhere to piping and equipment. virtually all of them do – is a prime

Signals agitate bio? lm colonies, caus- candidate,” Widhalm said. “From small ing them to detach and ? ush out. Bacte- ships to very large ships, small systems ria and algae passing through the water to giant systems; the largest tanker in the conditioner’s ferrite rings are charged by world could use this system, as well as a the electrical signal, forming a hydration tugboat.” 78 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • AUGUST 2015

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