The Scrubbers on the Marine Transport Vessels: Technical, Economic and Environmental Characteristics

The use of scrubbers on ships is one of the strategic alternatives in order to meet the current International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements for sulfur oxide content in marine fuel exhaust. In this regard, various researches of scrubbers' characteristics are being carried out today and considered as an important scientific & practical issue of a number of sciences - technology, economics, ecology and others. The approaches' ambiguity to technical feasibility and economic efficiency of scrubbers' use is the research's problem due to their energy intensity, time losses during installation on existing ships, and high operating costs. The purpose of the research is to identify and consider the basic technical, economic and environmental characteristics of scrubbers in the context of other ways to meet the IMO requirements. In accordance with the purpose, the main scrubbers' advantages and disadvantages in comparison with other alternatives to meet the IMO requirements are presented. The structure and principle of scrubber operation, their types depending on the technology of neutralizing sulfur oxides are considered. The potential of using exhaust gas cleaning systems with opened and closed loop scrubbers in modern marine shipping are identified. Also, technical requirements for the air cleaning systems operation and emission monitoring, including quality criteria for desulfurization of exhaust gas by scrubbers are indicated. On the basis, the scrubbers' technical feasibility and the potential of their use in the world modern shipping are assessed so that to provide the implementation of the relevant environmental requirements of the IMO.