Spain. The Components Technology Center (CTC) worked on the development of a new coating aimed at the marine sector, for the protection against corrosion and biological contamination (biofouling) of structures built in steel.
This coating offers corrosion protection to structures for more than 20 years and biofouling for more than a decade. In the specific case of marine energy converters, it will contribute significantly to maximising the potential for marine energy extraction and minimising the costs associated with operation and maintenance.
This coating is one of the results contemplated by the MAT4OEC (Advanced Materials for Ocean Energy Converter) project. A European initiative, led by CTC, which has a budget of 1.1 million euros and with the participation of seven companies from Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium, among which the Cantabrian Degima stands out.
Although for reasons of confidentiality the complete characteristics of the new coating cannot yet be advanced, the researchers affirm that it will be a unique product on the market, called to have a disruptive effect within the sector. In fact, although it is still in an initial phase, several European companies have already been interested in this coating that will be applicable to other sectors outside marine renewable energies, such as the naval industry or Oil & Gas.
The solution is based on the improvement of a coating developed in the ACORN project, an industrial property shared by Degima and the English Alphatek, and in which the CTC also participated. That research developed a coating that combines the technology of thermal spraying of aluminum (TSA) together with various anti-fouling substances.
Today, after defining all the specifications and requirements of the project, the next steps will be the complete development of the product, the validation in different locations and its subsequent industrialization, scheduled for the end of 2019. Once the first samples are available, the test phase will be carried out at three different sites: Shetland Tidal Array in Scotland; Smartbay, in Ireland, and the marine laboratory MCTS El Bocal, in Santander.
Three other developments
Álvaro Rodríguez, coordinator of the Marine Renewable Energies area of the CTC Technology Center, presented three additional results at a conference. It is another coating, in this case for composite materials, its function being the minimization of adhesion of the biofouling and, therefore, prolong the useful life of elements such as marine buoys or the blades of marine turbines.
In addition, the research faces the development of a new anti-fouling of low toxicity, which will result in a lower environmental impact.
Finally, a monitoring system for corrosion and biofouling was presented, applicable to any type of offshore metal structure, with which the amount of biological contamination adhered to and the degree of corrosion of the elements can be measured. It is an important tool for planning the maintenance of offshore structures.
The phenomenon of corrosion affects most materials and structures, causing an annual cost ranging between 50 and 80 million dollars.
Source: Technological Center of Components.
