PureVent sparks new demand from marine customers

Four recent orders for PureVent indicate a growing interest for the application amongst shipowners. Traditionally, the biggest pull has been from land-based engine power plants.

This interesting article is about the marine industry. Alfa Laval’s equipment onboard vessels protects important equipment as well as reduces energy costs and harmful emissions.

The orders were booked with two big Canadian shipowners and a Norwegian cruise ship owner respectively, says Pontus Bergström, BU HSS Pure & Engine Power Global Sales. “Crankcase gas can be odourless, but usually, you can detect it on deck both because it has an unpleasant smell and because it leaves oil stains.

Emissions of crankcase gas on ships are not subject to regulations introduced by the International Marine Organization (IMO), but it is a topic that is discussed from time to time, says Pontus: “Discomfort is one thing, but the inhalation of crankcase gas does have health implications. The oil particles are very small and are likely to harm the lunge tissue if inhaled. PureVent is the perfect solution for marine customers as well as power plant owners to counter this. And shipowners will only be aware of this if Alfa Laval makes them aware.”

Alfa Laval’s PureVent 2.0 application is a radical new approach to clean the gas vented from engine crankcase by using centrifugal separation technology, to remove oil mist and other particles.

On a recent trip to Canada, Ali Kamil, Application Manager of HSS Pure, had the opportunity to discuss matters with two Canadian marine customers. “One of the customers had a problem with its old oil mist collector that did not work. It was causing a pressure increase inside the engine crankcase. The other customer had an old engine where they experienced oil leakage and they wanted to minimize the crankcase pressure,” Ali further explains:

“After installing the PureVent the customer now has efficient gas cleaning and the option to enhance the engine performance by regulating the crankcase pressure. PureVent is acting both as a separator and a pump to regulate and optimize the crankcase pressure at the required level. This would minimize the risk of oil leakage from the engine. We are increasingly seeing that the marine sector is beginning to pay attention to the reality of the need for efficient crankcase gas cleaning.

Ali adds: “The customers now experience cleaned vented air from the crankcase. The PureVent is a superior product when it comes to product reliability and separation efficiency. It removes between 98-99.9% of oil mists from crankcase gases during normal running conditions. Also, maintenance is extremely simple: the rotor kit just needs to be replaced every 16,000hrs or 5 years of operation, whichever comes first."