World News
SodaFlexx Offers Scrubber Conversions to Hybrid Models as Response to Open-Loop Bans
Engineering firm SodaFlexx International has developed a means of converting scrubbers to hybrid models as a response to bans on open-loop versions of the emissions-cleaning systems.
Denmark's Environment Ministry announced last month that the discharge of washwater from open-loop scrubbers would be banned in the country's waters from July 2025. Several other port authorities and regulators around the world have imposed similar regulations since the ramping-up of scrubber installations after 2020.
"We anticipated the scrubber and wastewater ban," Sander Castel, CEO of SodaFlexx, told Ship & Bunker on Wednesday.
"Our new technology helps vessel operators adapt to this new political reality.
"If your vessel has an open loop scrubber, you can use our technology as an add-on.
"Your scrubber would then function as a hybrid, allowing you to continue using your current fuel.
"In short, we offer a Baltic-proof solution."
SodaFlexx's solution is its N-Flexx system, a scrubber combined with a sodium-based powder sorbent developed by Solvay. More than 500 customers are currently using the process in land-based facilities.
"When this sodium-based sorbent is injected directly into your existing exhaust gas piping with the N-Flexx gas desulphurization system, the sulphur component is neutralized," Elwin Koning, project director at SodaFlexx, told Ship & Bunker.
"This technology is a game-changing solution which avoids the use of seawater."