The International Maritime Organization has given basic approval to Panasonic’s lately developed ballast water treatment system ATPS-Blue sys. The[ds_preview] approval was given at the 66 th session of MEPC (Marine Environment Protection Committee) at the end of March. Panasonic publicly announced the new system in late January. This first ballast water management system using in-line electrolysis in Japan is filter-less. Panasonic Environmental Systems & Engineering, a Panasonic group company, thus provides an electrolysis unit placed in the main ballast water pipe.
The unit generates hypochlorous acid to disinfect the microorganisms in ballast water that may have been taken on board when taking in ballast water. ATPS-Blue sys also employs the company’s original »stirring device« that enhances the efficacy of the sterilization, so that microorganisms in ballast water will be treated to fully conform to the discharge standards by the IMO without using filters. Therefore, backwashing and changing of the filter cloth is unnecessary. As it is also scalable according to the volume of the ballast water to be treated as well as the ship’s internal layout, the system helps utilize the limited space on board. Panasonic is aiming to release the products of ATPS-Blue sys for sale in the fiscal year starting in April 2015 through Exeno Yamamizu Corporation headquartered in Tokyo.
