U.S. maritime navigation and communications equipment company W R Systems, Ltd. (WR) announced in a press release today they have been awarded a patent for their "Emsys" Emissions Monitoring Technology, which measures gaseous emissions such as NOX, SOX and CO2, as well as particulate matter (PM) and Opacity, Ship & Bunker reports.
Simon Brown, Director of International Maritime Business at WR said the system was designed to overcome "significant drawbacks" of existing systems, namely reliability, cost, and their apparent lack of anticipation of future regulatory requirements such as regulations for PM that "are just around the corner."
"Our team spent three years developing a system which uses combined laser and 'outside the stack' PM measurement technology," Brown explained, saying that there was no need to have consumable filters, gas coolers, or dryers to take the measurements.
"In addition, the laser doesn't drift, meaning you don't need to spend a fortune on calibration gas to keep the system in compliance," he added.
By having PM and Opacity measurement capability built into the system in advance of regulations being brought into effect, Brown says they have overcome the potential issues of other systems which may become obsolete given the "inevitable introduction" of such regulations.
The patent was awarded due to the unique PM sensor configuration, it said, which rather than having a PM sensor in each exhaust, utilises a single sensor inside Emsys to measure every stack, reducing a large amount of the associated cost, maintenance, and complexity.
The Norfolk, Virginia based firm said in August that two new-build cruise ships being constructed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for Carnival Cruise Line's AIDA Cruise brand are to be fitted with the Emsys emissions monitoring system.
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