# US 2017/0073057 A1 · Ballast water treatment system

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- Number: US 2017/0073057 A1
- Document ID: US20170073057A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/360,608
- Filed: 2016-11-23
- Published: 2017-03-16
- Earliest claimed: 2014-06-26
- Assignees: Techwin Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Techwin Co, Ltd.
- Inventors: Boong Ik Jung; Jung Sik Kim; Hyun Su Shin; Sun Duk Hwang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170073057A1

## CPC

- B63J 4/002: {for treating ballast water}
- B01D 19/0005: {with one or more auxiliary substances}
- B01J 19/2475: {Membrane reactors}
- B63B 13/00: Conduits for emptying or ballasting; Self-bailing equipment; Scuppers (draining means for hatches B63B19/26; centrifugal bilge-water separators B04; {arrangements of installations for treating ballast water B63J4/002; } pipes in general F16L)
- C02F 1/46104: {Devices therefor; Their operating or servicing}
- C02F 1/467: by electrochemical disinfection; {by electrooxydation or by electroreduction}
- C02F 1/4674: {with halogen or compound of halogens, e.g. chlorine, bromine}
- C25B 1/04: by electrolysis of water
- C25B 1/26: Chlorine; Compounds thereof (by simultaneous production of alkali metal hydroxides and chlorine, oxyacids or salts of chlorine C25B1/34)
- C25B 15/00: Operating or servicing cells
- C25B 15/08: Supplying or removing reactants or electrolytes; Regeneration of electrolytes
- C02F 1/02: by heating (methods of steam generation F22B; preheating boiler feed-water or accumulating preheated boiler feed-water F22D)
- C02F 1/725: {by catalytic oxidation}
- C02F 2103/008: {Originating from marine vessels, ships and boats, e.g. bilge water or ballast water}
- C02F 2201/46145: Fluid flow
- C02F 2201/4617: DC only
- C02F 2201/4618: Supplying or removing reactants or electrolyte
- C02F 2209/29: Chlorine compounds
- C02F 2303/04: Disinfection
- Y02E 60/36: Hydrogen production from non-carbon containing sources, e.g. by water electrolysis
- B63J: AUXILIARIES ON VESSELS
- B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28)
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B63B: SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING (arrangements of vessel ventilation, heating, cooling, or air-conditioning B63J2/00; floating substructures as supports of dredgers or soil-shifting machines E02F9/06)
- C02F: TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE (separation in general B01D; special arrangements on waterborne vessels of installations for treating water, waste water or sewage, e.g. for producing fresh water, B63J; adding materials to water to prevent corrosion C23F; treating radioactively-contaminated liquids G21F9/04; regeneration of reactants for recirculation into processes, see the relevant places for the processes)
- C25B: ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COMPOUNDS OR NON-METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR (anodic or cathodic protection C23F13/00; single-crystal growth C30B)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

Disclosed is a ballast water treatment system including: a ballast water supply unit for supplying seawater employed as ballast water to a ballast water tank; an electrolysis device receiving a part of the seawater being supplied to the ballast water tank, and generating sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen gas as by-product gas by electrolyzing the part of the seawater being supplied to the ballast water tank via the ballast water supply unit; and a hydrogen gas removing device receiving a gas-liquid mixture of electrolyzed water and the hydrogen gas that are generated in the electrolysis device, removing the hydrogen gas by a catalyst reaction, and supplying remaining electrolyzed water to the ballast water tank via the ballast water supply unit.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A ballast water treatment system, comprising:
a ballast water supply unit for supplying seawater employed as ballast water to a ballast water tank;
an electrolysis device receiving a part of the seawater being supplied to the ballast water tank, and generating sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen gas as by-product gas by electrolyzing the part of the seawater being supplied to the ballast water tank via the ballast water supply unit; and
a hydrogen gas removing device receiving a gas-liquid mixture of electrolyzed water and the hydrogen gas that are generated in the electrolysis device, removing the hydrogen gas by a catalyst reaction, and supplying remaining electrolyzed water to the ballast water tank via the ballast water supply unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen gas removing device is connected to the electrolysis device and receives the gas-liquid mixture therefrom, the hydrogen gas removing device including:
a catalyst reaction tank having therein a hydrophobic catalyst that generates water by the catalyst reaction with the hydrogen gas; and
an ambient air supply unit supplying ambient air to the catalyst reaction tank.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 2, wherein the catalyst reaction tank includes: a body; a hydrophobic catalyst provided inside the body; and an electrolyzed water discharge line discharging remaining electrolyzed water that remains after being processed in the body to the ballast water supply unit,
wherein the body is provided with a gas-liquid mixture inlet through which the gas-liquid mixture is introduced into the body; an electrolyzed water outlet through which the electrolyzed water is discharged from the body; an ambient air inlet through which ambient air including oxygen or air is introduced into the body; and a gas outlet through which remaining gas that remains in the body after the catalyst reaction is discharged from the body.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 2, wherein the catalyst reaction tank includes: a body; a hydrophobic dividing plate dividing an inside of the body into a catalyst receiving part provided at a first side, and an electrolyzed water receiving part provided at a second side; and the hydrophobic catalyst received in the catalyst receiving part, and generating water by the catalyst reaction with the hydrogen gas.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 4, wherein the electrolyzed water receiving part of the body is provided at a first side thereof with a gas-liquid mixture inlet through which the gas-liquid mixture is introduced, and at a second side thereof with an electrolyzed water outlet discharging the electrolyzed water, and
the catalyst receiving part of the body is provided at a first side thereof with an ambient air inlet through which ambient air including oxygen or air is introduced, and at a second side thereof with a gas outlet through which remaining gas that remains in the body after the catalyst reaction is discharged.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2, 3, 4, 5)

The ballast water treatment system of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the hydrophobic catalyst is provided as a catalyst that oxidizes hydrogen gas and is supported on a porous hydrophobic support, the hydrophobic support consisting of a porous hydrophobic polymer material, or an inorganic or metal material of which a surface is hydrophobically treated.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 6, wherein the hydrophobic catalyst is supported on one or opposite surfaces of the hydrophobic dividing plate, and is integrally formed into a porous plate membrane structure or a tubular or hollow-fiber membrane structure.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 6, wherein the hydrophobic dividing plate is formed into a tubular shape, and the hydrophobic catalyst is formed into a tubular shape and at least one tubular-shaped catalyst is installed inside the hydrophobic dividing plate, such that the hydrophobic catalyst and the hydrophobic dividing plate are formed into a tubular or hollow-fiber membrane structure.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 6, wherein the hydrophobic support is formed into one shape selected from a group consisting of bead, honeycomb, sheet, mesh, tube, and hollow-fiber shapes.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 7, wherein the catalyst is composed of one or more elements selected from a group consisting of platinum group metal elements (Pt, Pd, Ru, Ir, Rh, etc.) or transition metal elements (Ni, Cu, Fe, etc.).

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 1, wherein the seawater is allowed to pass via the hydrogen gas removing device while being supplied to the electrolysis device, and the system further comprises: a heat exchange device increasing a temperature of the seawater by heat exchange with a heat of reaction generated during the catalyst reaction in the hydrogen gas removing device, prior to supplying the seawater to the electrolysis device.

### Claim 12 (depends on 2)

The ballast water treatment system of claim 2, further comprising:
a residual chlorine measuring means measuring residual chlorine of the ballast water being introduced from the ballast water supply unit to the ballast water tank; and
a control unit receiving a measured value from the residual chlorine measuring means, and controlling the amount of electrolysis in the electrolysis device and the amount of the ambient air in the ambient air supply unit so as to make the measured value satisfy a preset predetermined value.