SeaClean for Eliminating Soot

All diesel engines produce soot as a product of combustion. A 99kW generator installed on a yacht before 2012 is allowed to produce over 700 grams (more than 1.5 pounds) of particulate matter (primarily soot) per day.

Diesel particulate matter has been shown to be a health risk. Many of those nanoparticles of soot will imbed themselves in microscopic pores that are present in even the highest quality hull finish. The results are staining and further paint damage from attempts to remove the unsightly stains. 

The SeaClean Diesel Particulate Filter System captures 95 percent or better of the soot and other particulates in the exhaust flow that would otherwise be discharged into the atmosphere. Soot particles plus unburned fuel and lubricating oil are trapped by the filter medium and reduced to carbon dioxide and water vapor. This process also eliminates virtually all the odor associated with diesel exhaust. It eliminates oil sheen and soot “islands” from the generator exhaust. Inorganic particulates originating in lubricating oil additives and produced through normal engine wear are retained in the filter and removed by periodic mechanical cleaning.

Cleaning generator exhaust: Soot staining can be controlled by Sea Clean.  

Reduction of trapped soot and unburned hydrocarbons on the filter medium is called regeneration. Unlike other particulate filters which depend on high generator loads to create exhaust temperatures high enough to initiate regeneration, the SeaClean Diesel Particulate Filter System uses excess generator capacity to electrically heat exhaust gas before it enters the filter housing. Exhaust is delivered to the filter at the correct temperature to initiate regeneration and thereby eliminate soot and the hydrocarbons associated with diesel smells and oil slicks.

To insure the highest level of particulate removal and longest possible filter life between cleanings, SeaClean incorporates an electrically powered exhaust gas heater which adjusts power consumption in relation to the load on the generator and its exhaust gas temperature. This means that when the generator is operating at a low load (and at its dirtiest) the heater maintains the correct exhaust temperature into the filter to achieve constant regeneration.

Sea Clean Retrofit: As long as there is room in your engine space, Sea Clean can be retrofitted as well.

As generator load increases and exhaust temperature rises, the power delivered to the heater is smoothly reduced until the point where exhaust temperature is sufficient to maintain regeneration. The heater then consumes no power and the system is not a parasitic load on the yacht's power distribution system. Full generator power is available to carry the hotel load. At low loads the heater will function as an exhaust cooled load bank to provide a healthy electrical base load as well as keep the filter operating correctly.

Exhaust leaving the yacht is virtually odorless and free of soot and unburned hydrocarbons. It is not too much of a stretch to say that nothing leaves the yacht except warm air and water vapor.

SeaClean includes a datalogger and display of temperature set point and exhaust temperature as well as backpressure for immediate operational oversight and historical reference of system performance in addition to a high backpressure alarm that may be interfaced with the yacht’s alarm and monitoring system.

Richard Boggs, the inventor of SeaClean, holds a USCG license as unlimited chief engineer of steam, motor, and gas turbine vessels with 30 years of commercial marine experience in addition to teaching engineering and electrical systems at a maritime academy and a marine engineering training school for unlimited license holders and post graduate marine engineers. He was technical superintendent at Camper & Nicholsons USA for seven years providing engineering support to a large yacht fleet before leaving to concentrate on the SeaClean exhaust treatment business.

DeAngelo Marine Exhaust in Fort Lauderdale is the licensed partner for SeaClean. They not only sell the SeaClean, but they engineer the complete system along with fabrication of needed components and perform the custom installation and comissioning.  Each SeaClean is custom engineered and fitted with the correct components in a yacht to fit the operational profile of that yacht. Each system is unique to the owner’s needs and the yacht’s technical requirements.