New smaller, lighter scrubber from Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä said its new IQ Series exhaust gas treatment system incorporates several improvements that make it especially well-suited to container vessels, satisfying the increased demand in scrubbers as a compliance option from the container market segment.

The system, designed by the company’s Exhaust Treatment business unit in Moss, Norway, allows the same exhaust gas cleaning results to be achieved within a smaller footprint. The scrubber takes up 25% less space, is 30% lighter, and has 35% less volume, which minimizes the impact on a vessel’s cargo-carrying capacity, and therefore its profitability.

The new scrubber from Wärtsilä is lighter, smaller and less voluminous, to respond to requests from the new generation container vessels.

Additionally, the scrubber – which can be configured to use between 20 and 70 MW of power depending on vessel requirements – features the same modular design as Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment’s other exhaust gas cleaning solutions.

This means that the IQ Series can be upgraded with further technologies that enable other pollutants to be tackled within the stack, including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to cut NOx, a black carbon filter to cut particulate matter (PM), a depluming unit to cut visible steam from the stack, and even a carbon capture and storage (CCS) module that Wärtsilä is currently developing in its Moss test facility.

IQ Series is also a more environmentally-friendly option for owners and operators looking at the impact of their investment decisions, with Wärtsilä manufacturing the technology using 50% recycled steel.

“We believe that this new scrubber features several technology improvements that make it an obvious and front-running compliance option for interested owners and operators,” said Sigurd Jenssen, director, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment. “We have particularly designed IQ Series with our container segment customers in mind. There is huge demand in the container market for exhaust gas cleaning solutions that enable compliance and have a minimal impact on the profitability of the vessel. That’s why we have brought to market this new design that is lighter, smaller and less voluminous, enabling us to respond to what our customers are asking for, while also maintaining the same high-quality engineering and results they expect from Wärtsilä.”