DNV GL Grants AiP for Shanghai Bluesoul Scrubber

Liu Xiaofeng of DNV GL and Jacky Chow, COO of Shanghai Bluesoul, have signed an advisory service contract.

DNV GL today announced that it has granted Approval in Principle (AiP) to China's Shanghai Bluesoul Environmental Technology (Bluesoul) for the technical feasibility of the BlueSulf scrubber system, and is set to provide Bluesoul advisory services.

"We are very pleased to be the first Chinese supplier to receive this AiP and it demonstrates BlueSulf’s design in compliance with DNV GL class rules requirements, by using the sodium alkali method to clean exhaust gases," said Jacky Chow, COO for Bluesoul.

"We have signed three scrubber projects with Chinese and European owners and we are also in negotiations for several potential retrofit and new building projects. Thanks to DNV GL’s extensive experience in scrubber technology and our continued collaboration, we are confident that we will gain a large share in the scrubber market."

DNV GL says advisory services to be provided to Bluesoul include hardware-in-the-loop testing, simulations with DNV GL's COSMOSS tool, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses.

"For us at DNV GL, this is the first project with a Chinese manufacturer, where we will provide such a comprehensive set of services, ranging from the initial AiP to advisory services and the final certification," said Vincent Li, DNV GL's Maritime Regional Business Development Manager for Greater China.

"This project is a global effort and involves our local specialists in China as well as support from scrubber classification and advisory experts based in Norway, Germany, and Greece. We are very pleased about the trust Bluesoul has placed in us and look forward to working closely with the company now and in the future."

Hybrid systems like Bluesulf scrubber are noted by DNV GL to be the most popular type of scrubber system, as they provide for greater flexibility in adjusting to differing water salinity and requirements across different ports.

DNV GL further notes that Bluesulf, which reduces the sulfur content in exhaust gas to 0.1 percent or less, enables compliance with current Chinese Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements and with the global 0.50 percent sulfur cap on marine fuel, set to be implemented from 2020.

"These regulations have created a new market for scrubbers in the region and we are pleased to be part of that and support customers in developing safe, reliable and efficient exhaust gas cleaning systems," said Fabian Kock, Head of Section Safety and System at DNV GL's Approval Centre China.