Langh Tech BWMS Gets US Coast Guard Type Approval
Finnish marine technology manufacturer Langh Tech Oy Ab announced its LanghBW ballast water management system has received US Coast Guard type approval, making it the first UV-based system in the world to receive the SUCG stamp for one-way treatment.
The LanghBW system, which is based on fine filtration combined with UV treatment with innovative reactor design allowing easy maintenance and installation flexibility, successfully completing IMO type approval earlier this year.
“We are proud to announce being the first maker to have one-way treatment also approved by USCG, significantly reducing time and energy needed for ballasting operations,” says Langh Tech’s Product Manager Kim Tervonen. “This feature is especially impactful when operating in turbid waters where systems often need to restrict flowrate and treatment can take a long time both during ballasting and deballasting. With one-way treatment there are none of the restrictions typical for UV systems when deballasting, allowing even deballasting by gravity.”
While one-way treatment provides the most significant reduction in operating costs by directly cutting the energy consumption of the system, it also increases the lifetime of the main consumable, the UV lamps, since they do not need to be ignited for deballasting operations, Langh Tech said.
The USCG approval granted on September 15, includes models LanghBW300 and LanghBW600 for treating ballast water up to 300m³/h and 600m³/h respectively, with models up to 1500m³/h scheduled to be amended to the approval by the end of 2022.
The UV-reactor is unique in the way of how it can be opened for cleaning, as Langh Tech Design Engineer Joakim Keihäs explained, “All of the UV-lamps with their protective quart sleeves will slide out from the reactor in a cassette, you can think of it as if pulling out a drawer, no tools needed. This allows system operators to easily clean the lamp sleeves manually, which in our experience is the most reliable way to get them fully cleaned. After cleaning you just push cassette back in and you are good to go, the whole cleaning operation taking only a few minutes.”
