Recent Technologies for Ballast Water Treatment

Abstract

Concern about ballast-mediated bioinvasions into freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats is not limited to biodiversity per se but extends to its broader socio-economic impacts on agriculture, forests, fisheries, aquaculture, and other human activities dependent on the stability of living resources in a particular ecosystem. As a result, invasive species pose almost incalculable economic, socio-cultural and human health security risks. The importance of biological invasions was brought into greater focus as several devastating introductions in many countries occurred and given the limitations of the IMO (International Marine Organization) Guidelines. Consequently the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments was prepared and was adopted in a Diplomatic Conference in 2004. This Convention aimedto prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the risks to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens via ships' ballast waters. This article describes recent ballast water treatment studies from scientific and academic community since the last IMO Convention in 2004, and the treatment that received basic and final approval by IMO. We examined different methods available on scientific media to treat ballast water (lab-scale and field-scale tests) and we concluded that a standardization of ballast water treatment still to be done to ensure the IMO Standard.

Implications of ballast tank geometry and treatment technology on NIS removal

“…Some of the treatment technologies do not change the density of the ballast water and their application requires understanding how fluid is flushed through a ballast tank. No current treatment option, however, can totally solve the NIS problem (Perakis and Yang, 2003), because none has been shown to be biologically effective, environmental friendly, economic, safe and practical at the same time (Goncalves and Gagnon, 2012). Due to underestimation of the technical challenges, insufficient Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/oceaneng resources and market economics (King et al, 2012), ballast water flushing will continue to be in widespread use for quite some time.…”

Electrochemical Cell Applications for Ballast Water Treatment

“…There are a number of techniques taken into consideration for ballast water treatment (Tsolaki & Evan Diamadopoulos, 2009;Gonçalves & Gagnon 2012). However, it is Abbreviations ASW: NaCl solution with tap water (Artificial seawater) FAC: free available chlorine SW: seawater TRC: total residual chlorine generally agreed that a single treatment method would not be sufficient to achieve IMO standards for all types of seawater and ships.…”

Brine Effluents: Characteristics, Environmental Impacts, and Their Handling

“…Aquatic bio-invasions that cause impacts to receiving ecosystems during ballast water discharge have been reviewed in the literature [18]. For example, some cholera epidemics (due to the Vibrio cholera bacteria) are seen as the result of ballast water discharge.…”