Ship&Offshore | Issue GreenTech/2016
Study on biofouling collected from commercial vessels
MAGPLATES | Biofouling on ships’ underwater surfaces is responsible for increased fuel consumption and air emissions. In the following, Dinis Oliveira and Lena Granhag from the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, present a method for collecting intact biofouling samples from commercial vessels. It employs magnetic settlement plates (MAGPLATEs) that are attached to the hull before the ship leaves the dry dock. In this study, MAGPLATEs will be used to obtain intact biofilm samples grown and subjected to hydrodynamic conditions similar to those at control patches on the hull. To collect representative samples of fouling in North Atlantic waters, settlement plates will be attached to ships with North Sea routes. At the end of the sampling period, the plates will be analysed with regard to composition, topography, and drag and boundary layer properties. Future applications of MAGPLATEs are also discussed.