Wärtsilä Waste Treatment for Princess Cruises

The Finnish technology major Wartsila will supply and install an Auto Gasification solution for the Regal Princess, enabling the safe disposal of waste from the ship through a self-fueling thermal decomposition unit, thereby significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The gasification unit on Princess Cruises’ vessel will reduce the ship’s waste to less than 5% of it is original volume, turning it into a sterilize inert material called Bio Char and a synthetic gas that will be recycled within the unit as fuel, said a press release.

It will also lessen the requirement to offload waste at shore facilities. Princess Cruises is a Carnival Corporation & plc brand operating as part of the Holland America Group. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in July 2019.

The Wärtsilä supplied gasification unit will replace one of the vessel’s on-board incinerators, and will safely dispose of hazardous, contaminated, and dry burnable waste in an environmentally sustainable way. The emissions quality from this system exceed the standards of land based thermal destruction, and treating waste on-board the vessel rather than offloading in port therefore significantly reduces the environmental impact.

Furthermore, since the system recovers energy from the waste heat being produced by the thermal destruction process, additional energy and emission savings will be gained. The auto gasification process will reduce the ship’s waste to less than 5 percent of the original volume, and will produce Bio Char, a sterilized inert material, and syngas (synthesis gas), which is recycled within the unit as fuel.

“Wärtsilä and Carnival have cooperated closely on numerous projects over the years, and we have delivered a number of advanced waste treatment systems for their vessels. Our experience with the Auto Gasification technology will help support them in their focus on efficiency and environmental sustainability,” says Jason Hardy, Head of Sales, Advanced Waste Management (Retrofit), Wärtsilä Marine.

Princess Cruises has made it clear that efficient waste management and reducing emissions are extremely important for the company, and for all Carnival Corporation brands. Wärtsilä’s innovative and advanced technologies continue to support this commitment.

Wärtsilä is scheduled to deliver the equipment in January 2020.