Phosphorus flows on ships: Case study from the Baltic Sea

Material flow analysis is used to identify and quantify the flow of phosphorus (P) in ship-generated food waste and wastewater. Passenger, cruise, RoPax and cargo ships in the Baltic Sea were investigated in three scenarios: (1) if all waste is discharged to sea, (2) if all waste is disposed of ashore or (3) if the food waste fraction is disposed of ashore and wastewater is treated on-board. About 107 tonnes of P is generated annually in the waste streams, with highest contribution of approximately 62 tonnes (58%) from wastewater in the ship-category RoPax. Approximately 24 tonnes of P is contained in the food waste generated by the ships in the study. Forthcoming regulations over allowed nutrient concentrations in sewage will lead to 80% reduction in P from passenger ships and can reduce about 31 tonnes of P entering the Baltic Sea environment. If both sewage and grey water instead are offloaded in port reception facilities, about 76 tonnes of P-reduction to the sea can be reached. As most phosphorus recovery practices currently only are available on land it is recommended to direct the waste streams to port reception facilities for further treatment ashore

Modelling of discharges from baltic sea shipping

This paper describes the new developments of the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM) which enable the modelling of pollutant discharges to water from ships. These include nutrients from black/grey water discharges as well as from food waste. Further, the modelling of contaminants in ballast, black, grey and scrubber water, bilge discharges, and stern tube oil leaks are also described as well as releases of contaminants from antifouling paints. Each of the discharges is regulated by different sections of the IMO MARPOL convention, and emission patterns of different pollution releases vary significantly. The discharge patterns and total amounts for the year 2012 in the Baltic Sea area are reported and open-loop SOx scrubbing effluent was found to be the second-largest pollutant stream by volume. The scrubber discharges have increased significantly in recent years, and their environmental impacts need to be investigated in detail

Leaching, filtration and displacement washing in a treatment process for MSW combustion fly ash - laboratory scale and plant studies

Municipal Solid Waste combustion, as one of the waste management tools, starts to play an important role nowadays in heat and energy generation. However, MSW combustion leads to generation of other wastes - combustion residues, including ashes, which require a proper management. Thus, a lot of efforts have been directed towards minimization or elimination of negative impact on the environment when ash is land filled or utilized and thus different treatment options for fly ashes are presently being tested. This study is focused on testing a treatment method for cyclone ash from MSW combustion in Bubbling Fluidised Bed Boiler. The proposed method is based on effective leaching of the ash with water to release easily soluble salts, mainly NaCl and KCl, from the ash. The leaching step is followed by filtration and washing. The study was carried out in two stages: laboratory scale experiments and pilot plant scale experiments. The washing process tested under laboratory conditions consisted of the following steps: the cyclone ash and de-ionized water was mixed in a leaching reactor and after a specified residence time, the slurry was filtered and finally washed with de-ionized water in a filtration unit. The laboratory tests provided necessary data for continuation of the research in the pilot plant scale.The pilot plant consisted of a leaching unit, a filtration/washing unit, a storage tank and an ash bin. The whole washing process, except for the filtration step, was working in continuous mode. The findings from the research show that the proposed treatment process works very well for this type of ash. The leaching with water results in a relatively quick release of soluble salts from the ash. The ash/water slurry seemed to be a suitable material for mechanical separation in the filter unit, independently of the L/S slurry ratio applied. The mother liquor (leaching liquor) trapped in the filter cake can be washed out by displacement washing using a water volume twice is the volume of the mother liquor. Thus, an overall liquid to solid ratio at 1 seems to be reasonable low and still sufficient to reduce the leaching of soluble components from the washed ash. At this liquid to solid ratio the leaching liquor is still far from being saturated in respect to NaCl and KCl. The cyclone ash washed in the pilot plant passed two leaching tests (batch leaching test and the column test) that are proposed as European standard methods for the evaluation of particulate waste

Leaching, filtration and displacement washing in a treatment process for MSW combustion fly ash - laboratory scale and plant studies

Municipal Solid Waste combustion, as one of the waste management tools, starts to play an important role nowadays in heat and energy generation. However, MSW combustion leads to generation of other wastes - combustion residues, including ashes, which require a proper management. Thus, a lot of efforts have been directed towards minimization or elimination of negative impact on the environment when ash is land filled or utilized and thus different treatment options for fly ashes are presently being tested. This study is focused on testing a treatment method for cyclone ash from MSW combustion in Bubbling Fluidised Bed Boiler. The proposed method is based on effective leaching of the ash with water to release easily soluble salts, mainly NaCl and KCl, from the ash. The leaching step is followed by filtration and washing. The study was carried out in two stages: laboratory scale experiments and pilot plant scale experiments. The washing process tested under laboratory conditions consisted of the following steps: the cyclone ash and de-ionized water was mixed in a leaching reactor and after a specified residence time, the slurry was filtered and finally washed with de-ionized water in a filtration unit. The laboratory tests provided necessary data for continuation of the research in the pilot plant scale.The pilot plant consisted of a leaching unit, a filtration/washing unit, a storage tank and an ash bin. The whole washing process, except for the filtration step, was working in continuous mode. The findings from the research show that the proposed treatment process works very well for this type of ash. The leaching with water results in a relatively quick release of soluble salts from the ash. The ash/water slurry seemed to be a suitable material for mechanical separation in the filter unit, independently of the L/S slurry ratio applied. The mother liquor (leaching liquor) trapped in the filter cake can be washed out by displacement washing using a water volume twice is the volume of the mother liquor. Thus, an overall liquid to solid ratio at 1 seems to be reasonable low and still sufficient to reduce the leaching of soluble components from the washed ash. At this liquid to solid ratio the leaching liquor is still far from being saturated in respect to NaCl and KCl. The cyclone ash washed in the pilot plant passed two leaching tests (batch leaching test and the column test) that are proposed as European standard methods for the evaluation of particulate waste

Management of ship-generated waste - illustrated from the Baltic Sea perspective

Globally around one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost. Although the food waste issues on land are being widely discussed, the food waste generated on ships seems not to receive similar attention. The Baltic Sea suffers from elevated nutrient levels and has been, as the first region in the world, designated special area under MARPOL Annex IV where discharges of sewage from passenger ships are prohibited. The food waste and grey water are not included in the coming regulations. The annual contribution of nutrients from ship generated food waste is about 182 tonnes N and 34 tonnes P, which is 2-3 times lower than nutrient contribution from ship-generated sewage. Nitrogen and phosphorous in the waste discharged from the ships are low compared to the total load of nutrients that enter the Baltic Sea. The phosphorus discharged with the waste is of interest in analysing the impact on cyanobacteria growth. It has been calculated, for areas with high cruise ship traffic that the phosphorus load in close vicinity of the ship is comparable to the load of phosphorus from the air deposition. The calculated P load is however most likely very temporary due to the ship and water movements. The waste generated on board ships operating in the Baltic Sea contain phosphorous estimated to be 100 tonnes annually and in the light of expected global phosphorus scarcity there is potential to recover this element. Therefore, it is preferable to encourage ships to dispose the waste ashore, where it can be processed further to recycle the phosphorus. In the processing of wastes, it is important to consider also the rest-products and their further fate. Combustion of solid waste generates ash streams that need to be disposed. The suggested washing process helps to reduce leaching of soluble salts from the cyclone ash from municipal solid waste. Antimony however was mobilized by the ash treatment and this should issue be monitored. In this work a sustainable solution for the ship-generated food waste in the region is based on three pillars: the food waste should be (1)separated from other waste streams, (2) it should be measured and (3) constantly reduced. The food waste preferably should be disposed onshore in a well-working cooperation between actors from ship and land, where it further is managed to recover energy and valuable constituents. However, the pathways towards this scenario vary according to the individual ships and their unique characteristics and the ship operators may use tools from technology, economy, management and regulations areas. The solutions used on land can be also applied in shipping, but with modification to fit the maritime environment

Expanderande kryssningsbransch ställer krav på Östersjöns hamnar

Kryssningssjöfarten ger växande inkomster för kuststäderna,men innebär också ökad påverkan på miljön i Östersjön och dess hamnar. Trots att branschen åtagit sig att sluta släppa utavloppsvatten till sjöss lämnar bara var tredje kryssningsfartygsitt avfallsvatten vid hamnbesök. Dessutom är delar av fartygsflottani stort behov av förbättrad miljöprestanda

Billigare avfallshantering i hamnarna har inte gett förväntad effekt

Hamnarna kan spela en viktig roll för att minska sjöfartensutsläpp i havet. Reglerna för fartygens avfallsdumpning harskärpts och i Östersjöområdet har det länge funnits en överenskommelseom att fartygen ska kunna lämna sitt avfall ihamn utan extra avgift. I praktiken låter dock de stora förbättringarnavänta på sig

Anthropogenic noise

All rights are reserved. Anthropogenic noise is an issue that originates both from ships and the infrastructure that supports them, i.e., ports. Noise pollution is a known issue that can affect both humans and marine organisms. Humans are affected when ports, which are often active throughout the day and night, are located near residential areas in a city. Marine organisms are affected when noise from various activities of the shipping industry is transferred into the water. Four main sources of anthropogenic noise are generally recognised: underwater explosions, seismic explorations with high-energy systems, active sonar systems and shipping. The primary concerns regarding organisms exposed to elevated levels of anthropogenic noise include permanent or temporary hearing loss, the masking of a desired signal, and behavioural changes in response to a sound. Noise generated in port areas can affect both the staff working at the port and the neighbouring areas. Several negative health effects of noise pollution have been identified, for example, hearing and cardio-vascular disturbances, increased blood pressure, annoyance and sleep disturbance

Reception of sewage in the Baltic Sea : The port's role in the sustainable management of ship wastes

In 2019, the special area requirements under MARPOL 73/78 Annex IV will come into effect in the Baltic Sea.This puts pressure on ports to develop reception facilities for sewage from passenger ships. This paper is built ona review of published information about the ports´ work to update sewage reception facilities and the results ofan e-mail questionnaire that was sent to a number of ports in the region, and interviews with environmentalmanagers from two major ports in the region. During the last 15 years, major investments have been made inport reception facilities in many passenger ports. However, there are still diverging views on the question if theport waste reception capacity in the region is sufficient. A few ports have for a long time been dominant asregards the reception of sewage in the Baltic Sea region, but recent increases in the ports´ waste receptioncapacity have predominantly occurred in smaller ports. This has been brought about by a replacement of mobilemeans for sewage collection with fixed connection systems or an increase of capacity of existing fixed connectionsystems. Following HELCOM recommendation, the majority of the ports have introduced a no-special-fee systembut there are differences in how this is applied.Funding agencies: BONUS SHEBA Project</p