Page 1 of 4 

Effective Protection Against “Stowaways” Effective Protection Against “Stowaways” 

Ballast Water Management System of Hamann and Evonik

Receives Final Approval 

The final hurdle has been overcome for the SEDNA® ballast water 

treatment system using PERACLEAN® Ocean. The system, which was 

developed jointly by the German companies Hamann AG (Hollenstedt 

near Hamburg) and Evonik Industries AG (Essen), has now also been 

granted Type Approval by the relevant national regulatory authority, the 

Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH, Hamburg). In April 

2008 the system had already received Final Approval from the Londonbased International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency 

responsible for all maritime traffic. The system provides global shipping 

with an effective and environmentally sound process for preventing nonindigenous organisms from being introduced with the ballast water of 

ships. 

Type Approval was preceded by an extensive testing and trial program, 

which involved external experts such as Dr. Stephan Gollasch from 

GoConsult in Hamburg. During the tests, the entire system was operated 

at length in fully automatic operating mode: on land and on a test ship. 

The tests focused particularly on efficiency, reliability, and safety. 

Experts from NIOZ, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 

documented the test results in a detailed report that formed the basis for 

the approval of the German administration (BSH). 

The world's first operational system with F The world's first operational system with Final Approval Approval Approval and Type 

Approval Approval 

With certification by the IMO and the national administration, this is the 

world's first system that complies with the IMO Convention on Ballast 

Water Management of 2004 and has obtained both, Basic and Final 

Approval for its active substance as well as for the entire system. The 

Convention stipulates that new small ships should be fitted with 

appropriate systems from the year 2010 onwards, and larger ships from 

2012; older ships should be retrofitted by 2016 at the latest. This is no 

trivial undertaking: about 40,000 cargo ships currently sail the world’s 

June 11, 2008 

Rolf Hartmann Rolf Hartmann 

Evonik Services GmbH 

Communication Services 

Phone +49 69 218-2897 

Fax +49 69 218-62897 

rolf.hartmann@evonik.com 

Mathias Schmidt Mathias Schmidt 

Hamann AG 

Bei der Lehmkuhle 4 

21279 Hollenstedt 

Phone +49 4165 2211-32 

Fax +49 4165 2211-52 

mschmidt@hamannag.com 

Evonik Degussa GmbH Evonik Degussa GmbH

Weissfrauenstrasse 9 

60287 Frankfurt am Main 

Phone +49 69 218-01 

Fax +49 69 218-3118 

www.evonik.com 

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Chairman of the Supervisory Board 

Dr. Werner Müller 

Management Board Management Board 

Dr. Klaus Engel (Chairman), 

Dr. Alfred Oberholz (dep.chm.), 

Ralf Blauth, Dr. Manfred Spindler, 

Heinz-Joachim Wagner, 

Patrik Wohlhauser 

Registered office: Essen 

Local Court: Essen 

Commercial Register B 20227 
Page 2 of 4 

seas, and about 800 new ships are put into service every year. Evonik 

has been active for many years in this new application area for active 

oxygen products. “The Type Approval is an important milestone and a 

great success for all the members of our project team,” says Dr. Thomas 

Haeberle, head of Evonik’s Industrial Chemicals Business Unit. 

The SEDNA® (Safe, Effective Deactivation of Non-Indigenous Aliens) 

system developed by Hamann treats the water in several steps during the 

intake only. Initially, hydro cyclones are used to separate out the solid 

material by application of centrifugal forces. This eliminates large 

species and significantly reduces sediments, to which living organisms 

often attach themselves. A filter then removes all remaining particles 

larger than 50 micrometers (A micrometer is one millionth of a meter.). 

“This two-stage physical process ensures that the various types of solids 

in the water and a wide range of living organisms are effectively 

separated out,” says Dr. Matthias Voigt, an executive board member 

responsible for research and development at Hamann. 

This cleaned water is then disinfected with PERACLEAN® Ocean, a special 

formulation of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide from Evonik, which 

is easily biodegradable. “Even at very low concentrations, our product 

shows excellent biocidal and fungicidal properties and is also effective 

over a wide range of temperature and pH,” says Bernd Hopf, project 

manager at Evonik’s Global Competence Center Active Oxygens. In 

practice no more than 150 liters of PERACLEAN® Ocean are needed for 

1,000 metric tons of ballast water. Whatever the number and type of 

organisms, the ballast water satisfies the IMO Convention’s strict 

requirements after only 24 hours retention time in the tank. 

Great advantages from linking mechanical treatment and c Great advantages from linking mechanical treatment and chemistry l treatment and chemistry hemistry 

The combined process by Hamann and Evonik offers considerable 

advantages. The SEDNA® system is suitable for a particularly wide range 

of ships. Thanks to its modular concept, it can be adapted to various 

capacities of ballast water pumps ranging from 50 to 2,000 cubic meters 

per hour. The mechanical pretreatment separates out all of the larger 

components and significantly reduces the sediment load that would 

otherwise have entered the ballast water tanks. “Low energy 

consumption and the low level of wear and tear are further important 
Page 3 of 4 

advantages for the operation of the SEDNA® system on a ship,” 

underlines Mathias Schmidt, sales manager at Hamann. 

PERACLEAN® Ocean is highly effective against all the remaining 

organisms. It is compatible with all the commonly used ballast water 

tank coatings and can be used in salt water, freshwater or brackish 

water. It has a long shelf life, is easily dosed, economical to use, and—

most importantly—it is environmentally compatible. 

The extend of the “stowaway” problem in ballast water is often 

underestimated. Experts regard it as one of the most important 

environmental topics, on par with global warming. The destruction of 

ecosystems by foreign invaders—whether viruses and bacteria, fungi, 

algae, or plankton—costs the U.S. alone approximately $138 billion every 

year. About 20 systems for treatment of ballast water are currently being 

developed worldwide, including those using physical methods such as 

UV-radiation, oxygen deprivation, or heating. So far, however, no other 

process has proved to be as effective and environmentally sound as the 

SEDNA® system using PERACLEAN® Ocean. 
Page 4 of 4 

Company information Company information 

Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in 

three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader 

in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and 

renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate 

companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous 

self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the 

world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about 

€14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion. 

 

Disclaimer Disclaimer 

In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our 

statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve 

known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, 

depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its 

group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements 

contained in this release. 

Hamman AG is a long-running family company that can Hamman AG look back on 80 years of 

maritime experience. The company has been operating under the name Hamann 

Wassertechnik GmbH since 1972, and specialized in the production and 

marketing of wastewater treatment systems for the maritime industry. Moreover, 

Hamman AG offers products such as freshwater production and exhaust-gas 

cleaning systems. In 2001 Hamann began developing the future-oriented 

SEDNA® ballast water treatment systems. Hamann AG is represented worldwide 

with more than 35 service stations and an agency network.