Hyde Marine: Compact System for Complex Ballast Water Treatment

Ships owners are obligated to protect the marine environment by regularly disinfecting their ballast water and comply with the International Maritime Organizations (IMO) ballast water treatment regulations. However, the dearth of a foolproof water treatment system that is adaptable and user-friendly makes it cumbersome for ship owners to act in accordance with international rules. To assist ship owners with this predicament, Hyde Marine provides a compact ballast water treatment system (BWTS)—Hyde GUARDIAN GOLD®—to streamline the ballast water management. The firm’s compact system optimizes vessel space and catalyzes maintenance operations; this allows cruise ships and other cargo carrier companies to focus on their core business processes. The system relies on two main components of its two-step treatment method: physical solid-liquid separation and disinfection treatment. While the physical solid-liquid separation is processed through surface filtration using automatic backwashing filters, the disinfection is carried out by utilizing ultraviolet (UV) technology. “The filtration process removes sediment and large organisms from the ballast water before it is treated with UV light to kill remaining organisms,” explains Mark Riggio, senior market manager of Hyde Marine.

The automatic backwashing filters enable the BWTS to remove long, narrow worms and chain algae depositions. This significantly reduces the sedimentation in ballast tanks, resulting in efficient handling of heavy sediment loading. Hyde Marine’s modus operandi of using UV rays eliminates the need for transporting, storing, and handling of chemical by-products to disinfect the ballast water. The robust design and architecture of the firm’s BWTS can be configured for different types of vessels, boasting the capacity to handle flow rates in the range of 60 cubic meters to 6000 cubic meters per hour. Hyde Marine BWTS’ skid mount capability allows it to be retrofitted on existing ships as well as new vessels.

While implementing these solutions for clients, Hyde Marine conducts a series of workshops to understand various business needs and then builds the BWTS that meets the industry requirements.