Experimental Analysis of Using Cavitation to Treat Ballast Water

Abstract

Water is the most commonly used substance to obtain proper weight of vessels. The ballast tanks can be easily filled with a cheap material-water. However, ballast water may contain additional unwanted species-a variety of sea microorganisms. They can be dangerous for the environment of destination harbor area and can have strong influence on human activity. A problem of ballast water treatment is becoming more and more important nowadays. This is the main reason of investigation on methods of treatment. In the presented paper, an experimental analysis of using cavitation to treat ballast water is described. During experiments a physical model was designed and made. Laboratory tests were made to confirm a concept of obtaining the cavitation phenomenon. After that, the model was moved to a lake shore to make field tests in real conditions. The field tests are promising-the efficiency of elimination of microorganisms from water equals 80 %.© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.