NanoFunDus– Development of a new Antifouling coating to prevent micro and macro fouling occurring in heat exchangers used in seawater desalination

The aim of this project is the development of a new coating to reduce or even prevent fouling and the resulting damages in seawater desalination plants. In cooperation with Rhenotherm Kunststoffbeschichtungs GmbH and SmartMembranes GmbH a coating exhibiting anti-adhesion properties as well as anti-biofouling properties to reduce biofilm formation will be designed for the application in heat exchangers. The coating will be applicable for common heat exchanger materials such as stainless steel and titanium and will require a sufficient temperature stability.
The development and optimization of the coating process will be the main objective of the industrial partners. The evaluation of new coating types regarding their antifouling properties will be performed at the TU Dresden, Chair of Bioprocess Engineering. Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation analysis will be conducted with selected marine bacteria and artificial seawater. The initial experimental setup takes place in a flow chamber suitable to test three samples (10 mm x 12 mm) simultaneously under simplified flow conditions.

NanoFunDus schematics — Fig. 1: Exploded view of the flow cell (left) und 3D-drawing of the flow cell including media inlet and outlet – closed (middle) und open (right).

To recreate the flow conditions of heat exchangers an additional flow device will be designed and manufactured to be able to analyse bacterial adhesion on the developed surfaces at a larger scale.