Emulsified Bilgewater Treatment

The goal of this multiphase SBIR project is to develop and commercialize a compact and robust system for removing oil from bilgewater using electrocoagulation (EC). Under Phase I, ADA Technologies tested the ability of EC to treat oily, emulsified bilgewater. Lab-scale tests verified that the EC process consistently breaks oily emulsions, producing a floc that can be separated from the water phase by simple filtration. The EC process was challenged with oily emulsions at pH from 3 to 9 and oil contents up to 10,000 ppm total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). In all cases the process was able to deliver a clean water stream with TPH less than 5 ppm. Power consumption was approximately 140 W-per-gpm of treated water. Under Phase II, ADA proposes to test a 10-gpm pilot system pier-side on bilgewater from naval vessels. The portable unit will include all ancillary equipment necessary for effective field demonstration of the technology. Under the Phase II Option, the team will design a shipboard prototype and detail the testing and evaluation plan for shipboard demonstration. ADA has teamed with Screen Lore Corporation (Denver, CO) and Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding (Newport News, VA) for development, demonstration, and commercialization of the technology.