BIOFOULING PREVENTION IN TROPICAL SOUTHEAST ASIAN SEAS
Abstract
The rich biodiversity in tropical Southeast Asian seas coupled with excess nutrients aroundcoastal cities contribute to rapid and aggressive marine biofouling and biosecurity risks fornaval vessels operating in Asia. These same heavy fouling conditions are useful for rapidevaluation of new materials for prevention of biofouling growth, as observed from Singaporeantifouling test site~s 14 years data for antifouling coatings performance. The objective of theproposed project is to evaluate the efficacy of novel antifouling materials from ONR Coatingsprogram, to identify environment benign materials that are effective in preventing biofoulingaccumulation on surfaces immersed in tropical Southeast Asia coastal seas. The methods to bedeployed consist of short and long-term field static immersion tests coupled with methods forassessment of foul-release properties (water jet test, fouling removal measurements). Furtherexamination of microfouling (slime) communities forming on materials in natural seawater willalso be conducted. Project deliverables consist of: an assessment of efficacy (foulingaccumulation and removal) of novel coatings, and characterization of biofouling (macro- andmicrofouling) on different materials. Outcomes from the project contribute towards improvingperfomance of naval vessels operating in Southeast Asia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 11, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012171
Entities
People
- Serena Lay-Ming Teo
Organizations
- National University of Singapore
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy