Vessel ôsock-on-a-stackö emission filter tested
A four-year project to develop an emission-catching device for docked oceangoing vessels bore fruit June 19 as dozens of port and government officials watched a test of the ungainly device at the Port of Long Beach.
Developed by Rancho Dominguez-based hazardous waste management firm Advanced Cleanup Technologies Inc., the system works like a cross between a vacuum cleaner and an air filter. A crane lifts a 2,500-pound 'bonnet' more than 150 feet in the air to sit atop and surround a vessel's smokestack. The exhaust from the vessel is sucked away through ducting from the bonnet into an onshore air filtration system specifically designed to remove hydrocarbon pollutants.
The $9 million ACTI-branded Advanced Maritime Emissions Control System, according to the firm, eliminates more than 95 percent of the three major hydrocarbon pollutants — nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter'generated by the auxiliary engines typically run while vessels at berth.
| A crane lifts a 2,500-pound 'bonnet' to sit atop and surround a vessel's smokestack. The vessel's exhaust is sucked away through ducting from the bonnet into an onshore air filtration system specifically designed to remove hydrocarbon pollutants. |
According to ACTI, one onshore scrubber unit, the heart of the system, can handle the exhaust from four vessels at one time.
The firm has been promoting the idea of the 'sock-on-a-stack' scrubber system for years and invested its own money in the development without any firm usage commitments or promise of purchases from the ports.
'Effectively reducing air pollution in Southern California requires both the private and public sectors to continuously develop innovative technology that can make an immediate impact today,' said Ruben Garcia, ACTI founder and president.
Wayne Nastri, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provided some funding for an earlier proof-of-concept test of the system on a locomotive, agreed, calling ACTI a 'leader' for developing the system.
Sen. Dean Florez, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Air Quality, said, 'ACTI is applying the best available technology to a problem that not only Southern California faces, but also the Central Valley, the area that I represent, which unfortunately is ranked second in terms of unhealthy air. I believe companies like ACTI need our support, and our partnership.'
With the seemingly successful test, the Port of Long Beach appears ready to invest in the system.
'It’s a great technology and now that we’ve seen that it works, I expect it will be coming before our board soon,' Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. 'I for one will be very supportive of this.' ' Keith Higginbotham
