Press Releases
Every time a sea ship or barge carrying chemical cargo is degassed or its cargo is loaded/discharged, volatile organic hydrocarbons are released causing a great nuisance. A barge is degassed primarily after unloading, preparing the barge for its next cargo. Measurements have confirmed the structural presence of excessive levels of substances such as benzene and toluene. These are, at the very least, unpleasant, while also not entirely harmless to local residents near ports and waterways.
Public interests
In the Port of Rotterdam, for example, moored vessels can only be degassed at specifically designated locations, unless a barge has a vapour-recovery system on board. The port authorities even go one step further: ‘clean’ seagoing vessels with an Environmental Ship Index (ESI) score of 20 or higher qualify for a discount on port dues. This incentive is in line with an increasing numbers of ports’ aim of becoming a “clean harbour”.
The ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Antwerp also agree that degassing is outdated. In this line of business, sustainability is becoming an increasingly pressing requirement too, further intensified by ever stricter legislation and regulations.
Equipment
AQ, a chemical service provider based in the Port of Antwerp, boasts ten years of experience providing a wide range of chemical services to the maritime industry. A highly flexible organisation, AQ’s services are available 24 hours a day. The company has adopted the Linde principle of vapour emission control (VEC) through cryogenic condensation, and developed a special trailer in-house to ensure 100% mobility of the system.
AQ General Manager Alain Devroye: ‘Our initial focus will be on the shipping industry, and that includes inland barges. We can get to moored vessels in no time. But we will also target on tank storage terminals where road tankers or rail cars need to be treated. And finally, our unit can quite conceivably also be deployed as a temporary replacement for stationary VEC systems that are down due to maintenance or repairs, or as any other kind of backup.’
Cryogenic know-how, and nitrogen
The Linde Group, with its subsidiary Linde Gas Benelux, has meanwhile racked up 25 years of experience with cryogenic condensation. Liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C, which has no harmful environmental effects, is used to separate volatile organic hydrocarbons from the exhaust gas. What remains is clean air and condensate, which, in turn, can be reused or eliminated. This process of cryogenic engineering has enabled Linde to install over one hundred stationary systems (based on its patented CIRRUS VEC technology) in the (petro)chemical and pharmaceutical industries, but also at tank terminals. Linde has its own logistics services in every country where it operates to ensure nitrogen supplies at any moment. A partnership between AQ, with its mobile cryogenic condensation unit, and Linde, with its cryogenic know-how, was therefore an obvious move. Both companies have experience with treating a wide range of VOCs.
Costs
Alain Devroye: ‘We will be charging a flat rate to treat vessels of any type and size, so that customers instantly know what to expect. After all, customers don’t like surprises in the form of all kinds of surcharges afterwards.’ Linde’s Wim van Dorth: ‘In fact, we will, at this early stage, even venture to say that AQ and Linde will offer the best cryogenic know-how and the most flexible service at the best price.…’