The Efficiency of Application of UV + VUV Radiation for Preventing Unicellular Invasions Transported with Ballast Waters of Ships

Abstract

The results of an experiment on modeling the neutralization of ship ballast waters (BWs) contaminated with unicellular halophilic alga Dunaliella terricola using the radiation of a low-pressure mercury arc lamp with wavelengths of 254 and 185 nm are presented. The experiment models the filling of the BW tank with seawater contaminated with D. terricola using a ballast water decontamination unit, followed by the storage of the water in the BW tank for 5 days, thereby simulating ship navigation, and BW discharge at the port of arrival through the unit. Contaminated BW was neutralized according to the technology of advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) using ozone and hydrogen peroxide which were generated in the water by radiation of a 185 nm line. It is experimentally established that the proposed method of treating model ballast water stops the reproduction of a test object. The conducted research shows prospects of application of UV + VUV (ultraviolet + vacuum ultraviolet) radiation for preventing the transfer of alien unicellular organisms by BWs and their invasions into local biocenoses.