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MERC ER01-12
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1. MERC Background and Objectives
The Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) is a State of Maryland initiative
that provides test facilities, information, and decision tools to address key environmental issues
facing the international maritime industry. The Center’s primary focus is to evaluate the
mechanical and biological efficacy, associated costs, and logistical aspects of ballast water
treatment systems and the economic impacts of ballast water regulations and management
approaches. A full description of MERC’s structure, products, and services can be found at
www.maritime-enviro.org.
To address the need for effective, safe, and reliable ballast water treatment systems to
prevent the introduction of non-native species, MERC has developed as a partnership between
the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Chesapeake Biological Laboratory/ University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science (CBL/UMCES), U.S. Maritime Administration
(MARAD), Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), University of Maryland
(UMD), and Old Dominion University (ODU) to provide independent performance testing and to
help facilitate the transition of new treatment technologies to shipboard implementation and
operations.
This report describes the MERC land-based evaluation of the Hyde Marine Ballast Water
Management System (BWMS) through objective and quality assured land-based testing in the
Port of Baltimore. The goal of this evaluation was to provide shipping lines, regulators,
classification societies, and flag states with an independent and credible assessment of treatment
performance under realistic conditions. Therefore, the data and information on performance
characteristics covers legitimate information to meet the evaluation's objective, and performance
is presented in a way to allow for comparison against the USCG Ballast Water Discharge
Regulations (2012) and the IMO International Convention for the Control and Management of
Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (2004), Regulation D-2 Ballast Water Performance Standard.
2. Description of the Hyde Marine Ballast Water Management System
The Hyde Marine BWMS (Hyde) process is based on solids separation and UV
irradiation. The system includes pretreatment filtration to remove solids and large organisms.
The secondary Hyde UV treatment is designed to kill or inactivate planktonic organisms
including zooplankton, algae, and bacteria from ballast water without affecting the normal
operation of the ship. Ballast water is also treated with UV during de-ballasting to ensure the
maximum effect. This study evaluated two distinct BWMS options, a 40
µ
m screen filter + UV
and a 55
µ
m disc filter + UV. Hyde staff operated the ballast water treatment system for this
evaluation.
3. Summary of USCG and IMO Standards
This evaluation was designed to determine if the Hyde BWMS options could meet USCG
and IMO D2 standards in accordance with ETV
Generic Protocol for the Verification of Ballast
Water Treatment Technology
(2010) and IMO
Guidelines for Approval of Ballast Water
Management Systems (G8)
. USCG Regulations and the IMO Convention both include the
following ballast discharge standards:
1) Less than 10 viable [live] organisms per m
3
, greater than or equal to 50 µm in minimum
dimension;