International. The Advanced Coatings for Marine Renewable Energy (ACORN) project has developed a new protective coating that will extend the life of marine structures to 20 or more years and avoid the need for complementary cathodic protection.
The result will be a completely new solution, not a paint solution for the protection of offshore renewable energy steel structures, including docks, buoys and oil and gas platforms. Once achieved, the coating will boost the competitiveness of the industry and help trigger a broad start-up of the different offshore technologies.
The project consisted of the creation of a highly differentiated and patentable technical solution that could even be extended in the longer term. Thermally Sprayed Aluminum (TSA) – a substance with proven long-term corrosion resistance – is used to provide a matrix coating with a service life of 20 or more years.
ACORN is also developing a corrosion and cavitation resistant coating with a service life of more than 10 years for tidal power generators, which operate in high-speed environments.
Three coatings were selected: a tungsten carbide containing alloy, an aluminum oxide and an iron-based alloy. They were chosen for their behavior under cavitation conditions, compatibility with substrate material, corrosion performance, lack of heavy metal content, environmental safety, and finally cost and manufacturing considerations. All three substances were coated on initial test coupons and evaluated for corrosion resistance in both cavitation and seawater.
