ECOTEC-STC LIFE06 ENV/B/000362 - Demonstration of a 100% non-toxic hull protection and anti-fouling system contribution to zero emissions to the aquatic environment and saving 3-8 % heavy fuels
Overview
Background & policy context:
Marine structures such as ship hulls need protection against corrosion and the attachment of marine organisms such as algae and barnacles, known as biofouling. Biofouling negatively affects the hydrodynamics of the hull, increasing drag and thus the necessary propulsive power. As well as increasing fuel costs up to 40% this also necessitates regular visits to shipyards for hull cleaning.
Antifouling coatings are a very effective and economic means of protecting ship hulls. However the predominant coatings are biocidal, using self-polishing co-polymers (spc) which gradually leach biocides by a chemical reaction to kill attached organisms. In 2001, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) banned the use of paints containing TBT (tributyltin). Nevertheless, most antifouling paints still slowly release heavy metals and harmful biocides into the marine environment.
The leaching of copper into seawater from antifouling paints has been conservatively estimated at 5 000 tonnes per year. Studies have shown that these compounds persist in the water, killing sealife, polluting harbour bottoms and entering the food chain.
The main current alternative to biocidal antifoulings are foul-release coatings, which aim to prevent the settlement of fouling by providing a low-friction surface onto which organisms have difficulty attaching. These suffer from being soft and easily damaged, and reliant on sufficient speeds to remove weakly attached organisms.
Objectives:
The beneficiary, Hydrex, sought to demonstrate the effective prevention of fouling and corrosion from its totally new biocide-free antifouling and corrosion-prevention technology - Ecospeed. Ecospeed is composed of a vinyl ester resin which is reinforced with glass platelets. The glass platelets lie in different layers parallel to the substrate. As such, they form a very durable and impermeable protection layer, which is very effective for corrosion protection.
The ECOTEC-STC project aimed to show that its innovative antifouling paint and underwater maintenance concept would outperform existing anti-fouling techniques practically, economically and environmentally. Specifically, it aimed to prove the paint’s lifelong non-toxic properties and its avoidance of emissions of metal compounds to air and water during application and use. It further demonstrated that the use of the paint would reduce fuel consumption and prevent the need for repainting in dry dock with associated environmental and economic costs.
It sought to show these benefits on a range of vessel types and in the different waters of the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
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