Effects of ammonia on electrochemical chlorine generation for ballast water treatment

Chlorine disinfection is one of the most common used techniques to eliminate the ballast water organisms. However safety risks during handling and onboard storage of chlorine gas or HOCl solutions are subjects of concern. Electrochemical generation of active chlorine on board would eliminate such unfavorable features of chlorine disinfection. The characteristics of seawater have a direct effect on the capability of an electrochemical system to function successfully. Seawater contains a wide range of salts at various concentrations and combinations. Additionally, coastal seawater may also contain ammonia beside domestic based organic pollutants. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of ammonia which will go under electrochemical process during disinfectant production. It is figured out that ammonia leads to less total and free available chlorine concentrations in electrochemically generated disinfectant. Consequently, the presence of ammonia increases the volume of disinfectant needed to disinfect the same amount of biomass. This work has been conducted within the project "BaWaPla - Sustainable Ballast Water Management Plant", funded by the European Union under contract number 031529, which is started at 15/11/2006 and finalized at 15/05/2010.