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Overview

Changing regulations in the marine industry - issued by the IMO - have driven the need for ballast water management and treatment systems. Ballast water is used to provide stability and maneuverability for vessels when either not fully loaded or when more stability is required due to rough seas. It is taken from one port to another, where it may be discharged, releasing non-indigenous organisms into fragile ecosystems.

To prevent such scenarios, untreated ballast water is now becoming highly regulated. New as well as existing vessels need to install ballast water treatment systems and keep records of the amount of water taken up and discharged.

Thus, flow measurement systems have to be an integral part of the complete system.

Conventional wetted flow meters such as mechanical or electromagnetic-inductive meters are negatively affected by ballast water due to the presence of mussels, sand and other particles leading to significant wear on any moving parts as well as the inner lining and electrodes of such systems, thus limiting their lifespan and resulting in increased maintenance and replacement cost.

FLEXIM’s ultrasonic clamp-on flow meters provide the better solution:

Mounted outside the pipe, installation efforts are minimal and no pipe modifications, such as cutting or welding, are necessary. They are thus also the ideal meters for retrofit applications. Furthermore, with no direct contact to the ballast water, the meter does not wear and doesn’t need any maintenance, resulting in an unrivalled lifetime.

Due to carefully matched and temperature compensating ultrasonic transducers as well as sophisticated data processing, FLEXIM guarantees very accurate, reliable and drift free measurement data. Even ballast water with a high amount of solids (sand, etc.) doesn’t affect the measurement.

Advantages

  • No direct media contact, thus unrivalled lifetime with zero maintenance
  • Highly cost effective: No pipe modifications required, lowest installation costs, price independent of pipe diameter – ideal retrofit solution
  • Highly repeatable and accurate measurements – even at elevated levels of solids or deposit formation inside the pipe