Page 46: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2022)

GREEN TECH FEATURE WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Inside WETT Technology for oily and black water Treatment on Ships

Attracted by the environmental mission of Terragon Environmental

Technologies, Dr. Ramona Pristavita, Terragon’s Vice President of Engineering, discusses the operational advances and advantages that Wastewater

Electrochemical Treatment Technology (WETT) offers to shipowners.

By Greg Trauthwein andling a variety of shipboard dyes or certain type of cleaning products. this type of waste waters can use our waste water ef? ciently, effec- And it’s a technology that can be fully au- WETT-S technology.” tively, is a central tenant to tomated, that doesn’t require so much op-

H Inside WETT Tech ship operations. erator interaction; you don’t have to dose

Operating in the harsh saltwater envi- chemicals, you don’t have to clean ? lters. Central to all WETT systems is a ronment, with a broad spectrum of ship It’s easy to work with, easy to maintain marinized Electrocoagulation (EC) movements and vibrations, waste water and, in short, it’s plug-and-play.” unit which has been developed over the treatment systems on ships at sea must be The WETT line today consists of years to overcome the dif? culties that rugged and adaptive, able to handle a vari- three main products: are common to many simple EC units ety of contaminants while requiring mini- ¦WETT-O, which stands for oily available commercially.

mal crew intervention and maintenance, water or bilge water and The EC unit has self-cleaning and particularly today as the duties of the ¦WETT-S, which stands for sewage. anti-passivation features. It operates seafarer are stretched thin with increasing ¦WETT-G, which stands for grey- continuously and performs automated levels of technological sophistication. water (WETT-G is in the ? nal stages of contaminant coagulation, ? occulation,

Terragon has spent more than a de- development) ? otation, separation and removal in a cade engineering, developing and de- According to Pristavita, WETT-O and single enclosed reactor. No polymer livering its WETT family of products. WETT-S have been developed and cer- addition, settling or ? otation tanks, or

Terragon’s patented approach that can ti? ed by class speci? cally for marine ap- ? lters are required.

be used to treat water for recycle or re- plications. “It’s state-of-the-art technol- Typically, the EC unit removes about use and treat water for safe discharge. ogy, very modern and easy to use with 75% or more of the total suspended sol-

The WETT solution is based on electro- touch screens.” ids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand chemistry and a design philosophy that While optimized for maritime, the (COD) present in the wastewater, along eliminates biological treatment, dispos- WETT line-up is equally well-suited with complete removal of phosphorus able ? lters and membranes, and the need and proven for land-based operations. and heavy metals. to add chemical reagents. “Electrochemistry is a solid process, so There are two sizes of EC unit avail-

The WETT approach is particularly you can use it in different industries for able; a smaller one that treats at 1.0-1.5 well-suited for: decentralized water different waste water streams, for grey- Lpm, and a larger one that treats at 5-7.5 treatment; situations with low to moder- water, for example, treatment for use in Lpm. Multiple EC units can be arranged ate ? owrates; variable in? uent loadings oily water. For example, we have other in a parallel fashion to treat larger ? ow- and concentrations; highly contami- clients use the same technology we in- rates than can be accommodated by a nated wastewater; need for automated stall on ships. It’s garages, where the single EC unit.

and maintenance-free operation; and the maintenance facilities for aircrafts and “If you install a WETT-O system, it’s need for on/off capability. for trains. Anyone who’s producing oily going to remove all the contaminants, “Electrochemistry is a very solid pro- water for example, can use our WETT- not just the oil,” said Pristavita. “So it’s cess,” said Pristavita, who a chemist by O. The same way with the black water going to remove suspended particles, training. “The process is not affected by and sewage, anyone who’s producing rust, dyes, nutrients, heavy metals … 46 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • May 2022

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