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The subsea fouling environment is a challenging one
for marine paint chemists. Poseidon’s R&D team is here to make
biofouling R&D a little easier and a lot faster.
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Subsea Immersion Test
The evaluation of marine biofouling is typically conducted in
shallow depths, usually 2 to 4 feet from the surface. This test
is sufficient to determine the performance of antifouling
coatings for applications in small boats and ships. Poseidon’s
marine antifouling research center in Tuticorin, India provides
R&D services to support this industry. However, there are many
applications where coatings are used in much deeper waters,
particularly for those to coat pipelines and oil rigs, where the
fouling communities, environmental conditions and pressures are
markedly different.
In December, 2008, Poseidon Sciences launched a new test facility
at its Athena Biosystems Station in the island of Panay
(Philippines) . This new Athena Subsea Test facility comprises an
underwater platform extending from the surface to 45 m depth. The
structure, anchored at the sea bottom, allows for installation of
test panels in static immersion at various depths, depending on
project sponsor specifications.
Because it is located in a tropical environment, fouling
attachment is rapid, with settlement of goose barnacles as the
primary hard fouling species. The photo below are
examples of the typical fouling found on an unprotected PVC panel
in static immersion for only 1 month. Algal soft fouling are also
common.
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- Subsea Antifouling Research
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Understanding the interactions between fouling communities and
surfaces is a complex issue. And, coatings system that work well
against fouling at the submerged bottom of the ship’s hull does
not necessarily perform well against surfaces in deeper
submergence. Building a subsea test facility offers the
opportunity to begin validating the performance of coatings
against such an environment.
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Why build the site in Philippine waters?
There
are many reasons. First, Athena Biosystems Philippines, a
division of Poseidon Sciences, already have an operating subsea
facility that samples pelagic fishes from depths down to 50
meters. Second, we have marine biologists, botanists and divers
maintaining the subsea test site. Adding another component in
the current operation minimizes the capital cost of developing the
program. Third, the marine tropical location is ideal for testing
because of the existing aggressive year-round subsea fouling
environment, enabling faster evaluation of subsea coatings.
This facility shall enable coatings chemists to fine tune their
formulation. Test results are supplied electronically after
the inspection period, along with, barnacle counts and other
relevant biological and structural information.
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