Ensolve Earns Type Approval

EnSolve Biosystems announced that it has received U.S. Coast Guard and International Maritime Organization (IMO) type approval for its new PetroLiminator® 100 Oil Water Separator.

The PetroLiminator 100 uses a patented biotechnology process to remove oil and other hydrocarbon wastes from ships’ bilge water, so it can be safely discharged overboard in environmentally sensitive waters. The system contains safe, non-pathogenic bacteria that actually “eat” the oil, grease, transmission fluid and other hydrocarbons in the bilge water.

The U.S. Coast Guard type approval certifies that the system meets U.S. and international clean-water regulatory standards for overboard discharge. The PetroLiminator 100 is a smaller, more compact version of the award-winning PetroLiminator 630, which was introduced last year. The smaller model is designed for small- to medium-sized vessels. Its small footprint ensures that it can easily be fitted on virtually any size ship. The unit can process up to 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water per week.

“The PetroLiminator 100 type approval tests revealed that the highest oil concentration in the effluent was 1.36 parts per million (ppm), well below the 15 ppm level required for legal discharge,” said Dr. Jason Caplan, president of EnSolve Biosystems. The PetroLiminator design represents a tremendous advance over traditional mechanical-based oily water separators, in terms of reliability, performance and cost-effectiveness, according to Caplan. The PetroLiminator is virtually maintenance-free, with no filters or ceramic beads to clean or replace. It easily handles emulsified oil and detergents that cannot typically be removed by mechanical separators. It contains a fail-safe monitoring device to ensure that effluent meets or exceeds regulatory standards before it can be pumped overboard.

“In addition, the capital cost of the PetroLiminator 100 system is four times less expensive than a comparable centrifuge system,” said Caplan. The original PetroLiminator 630 has been very successful, according to Caplan. “Thus far, not one ship that has employed the PetroLiminator system has been assessed a regulatory fine for discharging illegal oil levels in bilge water,” he said.