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Green Tech Marine’s new compact exhaust gas scrubber, GTM R15, has been successfully installed onboard a Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas, while the ship was in continuous service. The compact design required no extra space as the scrubber replaced the ship’s exhaust silencer.

Green Tech Marine and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. launched the pilot test to see if the new technology was a viable solution to a critical environmental challenge.

With many new environmental regulations coming into effect over the next five years, the financial and technical challenge of upgrading systems and operations has been considerable.

Beyond the efficient removal of SOx and other particles, Green Tech Marine says the GTM R15 provides a number of advantages over other scrubbers, such as its minimal footprint requirement and low weight. It is also energy efficient, requiring virtually no external chemicals and allowing for installation during operation.

Installation was completed in four months. Initial testing has been undertaken with the system in full-scale operation and the engine running from 2 to 12.4 MW. The scrubber is said to have produced successful results in both open loop and closed loop using seawater. A preliminary scrubber test was performed shore side in Norway for 11 months. After several visits to analyze the scrubber’s performance, Royal Caribbean committed to a pilot test.

"The small size and low weight of the scrubber got our attention," said Anders Aasen, Associate Vice President, Global Marine Technical Services at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "When we saw the initial performance results, we were convinced to launch a full scale trial."

Commenting on the faith the company has had in its exhaust scrubber, Peter Strandberg, Managing Director of Green Tech Marine said: "We’ve had full confidence in our system from the beginning. We were thrilled to see it put into practice when we hit the start button and the GTM R15 started working."

Over the next 4-6 months Green Tech will continue to test the GTM R15 onboard Liberty of the Seas to demonstrate that the scrubber can be operated continuously over a sustained period of time and achieve the same results as the initial tests.

Green Tech Marine is currently working closely together with DNV in order to receive type approval for the GTM R15 under the applicable International Maritime Organization requirements.