Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC)

MERC Call for Applications to Evaluate Ballast Water Treatment Systems

The Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) is partnering with the Great Ships Initiative (GSI) to offer evaluation services in calendar year 2010 to developers of ballast water treatment systems designed to prevent the transport of non-native aquatic species and to meet IMO ballast water discharge standards. The goal of this collaborative approach is to further the efficient and effective transition of treatments from concept and prototype to certification and routine operational use through combining and coordinating complementary resources and expertise at the respective research sites.

MERC and GSI research services evaluate treatment effectiveness against a range of taxonomic and size categories of ambient organisms at the pilot and shipboard scales. They are applicable to candidate ballast treatment systems designed to surpass the standards contained in the IMO Convention and/or meet United States federal standards, once developed.

MERC testing is open to all developers/manufacturers from the US and around the world and is currently free of charge for qualifying applicants. All test plans and evaluation results will be made available to the public as final reports, after peer-review and submission to MERC funding agencies.

Deadlines

Applications accepted at any time. The next review to take place in October 2009.

Application Form

Note: If you have an application pending to one or both of the collaborating entities (MERC or GSI) for research services in 2010, you do not need to reapply for consideration in response to this joint call.

Submission Process

MERC and GSI will consider any complete applications form, with cover letter and attachments, that are submitted electronically via email to kanzleiter@cbl.umces.edu. Clearly label all attachments with the application question to which they correspond and list them in the application in the spaces provided. To be considered, all applications must be accompanied by full author reference information and listed in the application form.

Review and Selection

All applications and related material will be reviewed by MERC and GSI jointly. Decisions will be made based on completeness of application package, likelihood that the proposed treatment system will ultimately effectively and efficiently meet discharge standards onboard commercial vessels (independent of technology readiness level or maturity), and available resources. While applicants can select the Chesapeake Bay (MERC) or Lake Superior as preferred location for testing, we will also consider how MERC and GSI together can accomplish the most in 2010 to transition developing ballast water treatment systems to operations.
Selection Information
Assuming developers of qualified systems respond to this solicitation, the GSI and MERC anticipate:

Bench-scale testing services to up to eight (8) candidate treatment systems in fresh, brackish or full saltwater;
Pilot-scale testing services at the GSI land-based test facility (freshwater) or MERC ship-based test facility (brackish water) to up to five (5) candidate treatment systems;
Active shipboard testing services to no more than two (2) candidate system.* Contingent upon available resources.

Contact Information

Direct any questions regarding this solicitation, application process or test facilities by
e-mail to Mario Tamburri (tamburri@cbl.umces.edu) at MERC or Allegra Cangelosi (acangelo@nemw.org) at GSI with subject line "GSI/MERC Application Question".

MERC Call for Applications to Evaluate Ballast Water Filter Systems

The Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) is please offer evaluation service from September 2009 through April 2010 to developers of ballast water filter systems designed to remove aquatic organisms and sediment from ballast water to meet IMO ballast water discharge standards either independently or in conjunction with additional treatment measures. The goal of this evaluation is to quantify filter performance on a biological and mechanical basis in a shipboard application to further the efficient and effective transition of ballast water treatment option knowledge from concept and prototype to implementation and routine operational use.

Unlike standard filter evaluations employing inert particles, the MERC evaluation will be based on a range of taxonomically diverse ambient population of organisms in the Chesapeake Bay and mechanical parameters relevant to shipboard implementation at the pilot scale. Filter evaluation services are applicable to candidate ballast water filter systems designed to independently or in conjunction with additional treatments surpass the standards contained in the IMO Convention and/or meet United States federal standards, once developed.

Deadlines
Applications submitted for 2009 Ballast Water Filter System Evaluation Services are due by: 5 PM EST April 17, 2009 with notification of acceptance by May 29, 2009.

Submission Process
MERC will consider any complete applications form, with cover letter and attachments, that are submitted electronically via email to kanzleiter@cbl.umces.edu. Clearly label all attachments with the application question to which they correspond and list them in the application in the spaces provided.

Review and Selection
All applications and related material will be reviewed by MERC personnel and an independent third party peer-review. Decisions will be made based on completeness of the application package, likelihood that the proposed filter system will ultimately effectively and efficiently be employed with additional treatment measures to meet discharge standards, practicality for implementation onboard commercial vessels (independent of technology readiness level or maturity), and available resources.

Assuming developers of qualified filter systems respond to this solicitation, MERC anticipates pilot-scale testing services on MERC ship-based test facilities for up to five candidate filter systems.

Contact Information
Please direct any questions regarding this solicitation, application process or test facilities by
e-mail to Mario Tamburri (tamburri@cbl.umces.edu) or Ross Kanzleiter (kanzleiter@cbl.umces.edu).

Application Form and Ballast Filter Schematic