Aquaculture challenge

Biofouling is one of the main concerns while farming fish:

• It causes mesh to get blocked, causing lower water exchange levels and a drop in oxygen levels. This causes lower food conversion ratios or even loss of stock.
• Hard fouling organisms have sharp edges, therefore netting materials wear out more rapidly.
• Blocked mesh show increased drag, therefore stronger materials are needed and extra balance weight is required to keep the nets in shape.
• fouled cages need to be replaced or cleaned frequently, increasing work load of farm personnel.

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Fouling, the undesired growth of organisms like mussels and barnacles, causes an increased underwater drag on ships. This drag increase causes higher fuel consumption. Nowadays, this is prevented by toxics like copper and other chemicals to kill the species. Use of such toxics is heavily under pressure by regulations. Read more about the toxic copper issue.

Micanti has developed a non toxic fouling defence technology and patented this in 2006. By applying specific short fibers, organisms are unable to settle. After several years of intensive testing on both static and moving objects, Micanti foresees to enter the shipping-industry by mid 2011.

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Most of the traditional antifouling products are toxic. Depending on the concentration of copper the antifouling effect will last maximum 3-5 years.

With respect to the offshore application area this effect is too short as infrastructural objects (e.g. locks, floating docks, bridges, platforms, etc.) and oil platforms need to be functional for an undefined period (>20 years).

During this the full life span, the objects will be continuously subjected to biofouling. Guarantee of the safety of the objects is difficult without regular maintenance. Thorn-D® will significantly reduce the maintenance costs for these static objects and in addition provide it with a protective layer.

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