CSNOx technology wins green award

A Singapore-based research company specialising in emission abatement and environmental technologies has won the prestigious ’Technology of the Year’ award for its CSNOx technology at the Green Ship Technology Conference 2010.

Mr Chew Hwee Hong, managing director and founder of Ecospec, said that the CSNOx technology is the only one that effectively reduces greenhouse gases and exhaust pollutants - CO2, SO2 and NOx - all in one process and in a single system.

In the Ecospec CSNOx system, freshwater or seawater is first fed into an Ultra-Low Frequency Electrolysis System (ULFELS) to make it alkaline and ready for scrubbing. The alkaline water is then pumped through the exhaust stack to scrub the flue gas.

After scrubbing, the scrubbed water can be passed through a solid-liquid separator to remove solid particles. The water recovered then undergoes treatment to meet the discharge-water standard. If the water supply is limited, the scrubbed water can be further treated and recycled back to the scrubbing process, reducing the amount used.

Apart from the ability of CSNOx in reducing marine emissions effectively, Hong said that the technology is also applicable to offshore and onshore industries.

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), one of the world’s leading classification societies, issued a statement in February this year that verified that the CSNOx gas-abatement system had removed 99 per cent of sulphur dioxide (SO2), 77 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 66 per cent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the emissions of a 100,000-tonne Aframax tanker.

This means that the CSNOx system is able to remove NOx to such levels that vessels installed with it are able to meet even the strictest Tier 3 requirement.

Singapore-based Ecospec says that its CSNOx system an easily be installed into new ships or retofitted to older ones
Singapore-based Ecospec says that its CSNOx system can easily be installed into new ships or retofitted to older ones