SmartVesselCoatTest – Development of a new, self-cleaning, biocide-free coating system for sport boats with an inline test method for validating antifouling characteristics.

Bacteria are the first colonizers, and are followed by other (micro-)organisms, such as algae, barnacles or mussels. All of these organisms induce biofilms in an aquatic environment. When they are unwelcome, this colonisation is referred to as biofouling. In the field of shipping, biofouling may cause biocorrosion, as well as increased flow resistance, which is linked to considerable energy losses. There is the additional risk of transporting foreign aquatic species into new habitats. Great efforts are made to avoid biofouling and to clean off biogenic covering for this reason.

Examples of factors that influence biofouling are:

the properties of the applied coating,
the type and frequency of the cleaning procedures,
the operation mode, i.e. the speeds at which the ship is moved
the ratio of drive time to lay time,
the water temperature and entry of light at the berth or while driving
the structural design of the hull.

The project described here initially focuses on new types of antifouling paint for watercraft operating in inland waters.The motivation stems from the fact that most of the antifouling paints currently in use contain biocides. This results in enormous introduction of pollutants into the environment. In addition, cleaning procedures with biocidal substances are needed to be performed in short time intervals, which creates residues that must be disposed of as hazardous waste. This explains why there is a planned consolidation of regulations for paints used on inland watercraft, with strict conditions to be imposed on the content of biocides, in 2017.

For this reason, the joint ZIM project between Wohlert-Lackfabrik GmbH and the Dresden University of Technology aims to iteratively develop new, biocide-free, and potentially self-cleaning paints, then validate the results with a corresponding inline test method.Wohlert-Lackfabrik GmbH anticipates completely novel antifouling effects, particularly from an innovative combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic components in the paint, which will allow the development of an entirely new generation of boat paint.

The area of responsibility of the TU Dresden Biomonitoring working group includes the design of the inline test method, the modeling and experimental investigations on biofouling, and self cleaning effects for the samples provided by Wohlert-Lackfabrik GmbH.