Download - Hydrex Underwater Technology

EU LIFE Project ECOTEC-STC
LIFE06 ENV/B/000362
With the assistance of the following partners:
www.hydrex.be
www.portofantwerp.be
www.erm.com
www.hzs.be
www.rijkswaterstaat.nl
www.doehle.de
www.interscan.net
www.exmar.be
www.jandenul.com
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EU Life demonstration project confirms multiple
environmental and economical benefits of
Ecospeed underwater hull protection technology
On March 31, 2010, the EU
Life demonstration project
ECOTEC-STC was
concluded. Over a 3.5 year period
the objective of this project was to
evaluate the environmental and
economical benefits of Ecospeed
as a biocide-free durable hull protection
and antifouling system.
The project was divided into several
Project Tasks which were all carried
out under the supervision and organization
of Hydrex NV.
Project Tasks
A first task was to test and modify
the maintenance tools to optimize
the underwater treatment of STCs
and to develop new prototypes.
To demonstrate the ease of application
and underwater treatment,
several shipowners were involved
as partners in the project: notably
Interscan, Peter Döhle, Exmar-
CMB and Codralux. Subsequent
inspections gave proof of the durability
of the coating.
The environmental impact of application
and underwater treatment
was assessed by Rijkswaterstaat
Zeeland, the Port of Antwerp and
ERM.
A risk assessment of transferring
non-indigenous marine species
(NIS) by underwater cleaning was
carried out by ERM, Rijkswaterstaat
Zeeland and the Port of
Antwerp. The findings of this study
Conditioning of Ecospeed test plate during
experiments for the project
were then at the end of the project
demonstrated by an underwater
treatment in the Port of Rotterdam
on a 1000-TEU container vessel of
the partner shipowner Peter Döhle.
The fuel consumption of sister vessels
from the partners Peter Döhle
and Exmar-CMB was monitored
over a period of two years. The analysis
of the provided input was carried
out in collaboration with the
Hogere Zeevaartschool (Antwerp
Maritime Academy) and VITO.
Extensive tests with underwater cleaning equipment were carried out during the project
Finally, the drag and roughness
characteristics of Ecospeed were
compared with those of other coatings
in collaboration with VITO.
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The experimental findings of the
ECOTEC-STC project were then
brought together to estimate the
economical and environmental
impact of Ecospeed in comparison
to a foul release and a copper-based
spc scheme.
Economical Impact
The total economical impact was
compared on several aspects including
the application costs and
increased fuel costs. It was then
estimated for a 1000-TEU container
vessel which was to have
its Ecospeed coating regularly
treated.
Total Application Costs
require minor touch ups whereas
an spc or a foul release will require
reapplication at regular
intervals.
Decreasing Fuel Costs
Increased fuel costs are due to
the added resistance characteristics
There may be a higher initial cost to
use and apply Ecospeed. When
taken over a period of 10 years
which is the warranty period for
Ecospeed, the final cost will be
much lower as Ecospeed will only
Total economical impact over 10 years for Ecospeed is 1 /2 of spc and 3 /4 of a foul release
Estimated paint costs (in€/m 2 ) for Ecospeed, a foul release and an spc scheme
of each coating system. Towing tank
experiments have allowed to estimate
the inherent added drag
levels and the rate of increase over
time is estimated roughly from data
available in literature. Ecospeed's
decreased resistance is higher than
for other coatings as regular underwater
treatment is used preventatively
to keep added drag caused by
marine fouling under control.
Moreover at the same time it will
improve its surface texture and
hence increase its hydrodynamic
efficiency. As a result, by adjusting
the treatment interval, the increased
fuel costs are minimized to significantly
lower levels than would be
the case for an spc or foul release.
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When all the costs aspects are taken
together, it is estimated that the
overall economical impact of
Ecospeed is about half of an spc and
about 3/4 of a foul release for a
1000-TEU container vessel over 10
years.
Ecological Impact
On a global scale the potential for
the reduction in fuel consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions is
quite enormous. The IMO currently
estimates the annual fuel consumption
by the world fleet at 310-350
million tonnes, implying an annual
CO 2 output of approximately 850
million - 1.1 billion tonnes. If 80%
of the world fleet would switch from
biocidal antifoulings to Ecospeed,
this would save an estimated 28.5
million tonnes in annual fuel consumption
and 90 million tonnes in
annual CO 2 output.
Conclusions
The project ECOTEC-STC has
shown that Ecospeed as a Surface
Treated Coating is a valuable alternative
technology to the biocidal
copper based antifoulings that are
currently on the market. From the
project tasks that were carried out, it
has been demonstrated that Ecospeed
exhibits the following environmental
and economical benefits:
•
There is no need for full re-application
in drydock. After supervised
application, Ecospeed comes
with a guaranteed lifetime of 10
years and an expected lifetime of
25 years.
•
Ecospeed has low VOC contents
and in comparison with foul
release coatings or copper-based
antifoulings, far fewer VOCs are
emitted with each application.
Regular underwater treatment of Ecospeed is at the moment a Best Available Technology to
minimize the risk of transferring non-indigenous marine species
•
Effluent analysis has shown that
Ecospeed is 100% free of biocides
and therefore environmentally safe.
•
Regular underwater treatment of
Ecospeed is put forward as a Best
Available Technology to minimize
the risk of transferring non-indigenous
marine species (NIS).
•
Advanced maintenance tools have
been developed to clean and condition
simultaneously.
•
The analysis of the roughness
characteristics has demonstrated
an optimization of surface characteristics
by underwater treatment.
•
Towing tank experiments have
shown that conditioned Ecospeed
exhibits nearly 2% less drag than a
newly applied copper-based spc.
The dissemination activities and
events organized around the project
results engendered significant interest.
Proof of increased interest in
Ecospeed as an alternative to antifoulings
is given by the number of
applications since the beginning of
Presentation of the results obtained by the ECOTEC-STC project in January 2010
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Comparison of the same container ship with a conventional biocidal antifouling (left) and Ecospeed (right) after spending subsequent periods
of 2.5 years operating in the Baltic Sea
the project. Over 100 applications
were carried out since December 1,
2006, of which more than 50 were
full hull applications.
Transferability of
ECOTEC-STC
The collection of fuel consumption
data is being continued in order to
further demonstrate that the surface
texture of Ecospeed keeps improving
with each underwater treatment
of combined cleaning and
conditioning and therefore contrary
to traditional coatings, ship performance
keeps improving all through
the service life of the vessel.
Another important outcome of the
project was the submission of the
experimental results to port authorities
and environmental agencies
worldwide in order to allow the
underwater treatment of Ecospeed.
Several ports and countries have
banned underwater cleaning out
of concerns of pulsed release of
biocides or an increased risk of
transferring NIS. The experimental
results and the derived criteria for
environmentally safe underwater
cleaning have already convinced
Ice going general cargo vessel coated with Ecospeed as part of the LIFE project
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Application of Ecospeed on one of the
vessels that was part of the project
Oil tanker coated with Ecospeed as part of the LIFE project
several economically important
ports to overturn the ban.
The commercially significant ports
of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Copenhagen,
Oslo and Barcelona, which
maintained a ban on underwater
cleaning, have all decided between
mid 2009 and March 2010 to allow
the underwater cleaning of hulls
coated with Ecospeed. It is expected
that the list will expand in the
future. All these ports recognize
the negative impact of biocidal
paints and want to support environmentally
safe solutions.
Cleaning equipment unloaded prior to maintenance operation
EU LIFE Project ECOTEC-STC
LIFE06 ENV/B/000362
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Ecospeed ship hull performance technology
contains no active components
thus avoiding the release of toxic
chemicals that takes place with antifouling
paints.
The coating is combined with an underwater
cleaning and conditioning system,
removing any marine fouling at an early
stage of development. This procedure is
made very easy by Ecospeed’s non-stick
properties that make it difficult for fouling
organisms to attach to the hull. Ecospeed’s
surface characteristics steadily improve
a
Phone: +32 3 213 5318
Fax: +32 3 213 5321
with each hull cleaning throughout the
service life of the vessel, setting it entirely
apart from antifouling paints that deteriorate
over time. Major fuel savings are
the result.
Because the coating is not required to
be active it can be made extremely tough
and durable. Besides offering excellent
anti-corrosive properties, it allows the
coating to last the lifetime of the vessel.
The need for repaints during future drydockings
is eliminated, resulting in proven
substantial savings in time and cost.
info@ecospeed.be
www.ecospeed.be