This project aims at controlling the leach rate of biocides. Controlled release will lead to more effective use of biocides, thereby increasing the longevity of the coating and decreasing the environmental impact. A longer lasting hull coating will lead to economic benefits for the ship owners and allow coating manufacturers to obtain premium price for their product. The more effective use of biocides will reduce the environmental impact of hull coatings.
We have tested three different encapsulation approaches in the project in order to obtain the desired release of the biocides. None of the approaches gives rise to the desired release. Hence, the results cannot be directly implemented in a product at Hempel. However, it is of high value for Hempel now to be able to conclude that encapsulation should not be used in their hull coatings in order to get reduced release of biocides. Hempel has spent many resources in the past to investigate encapsulation, and Hempel now has the scientific basis to conclude that they should discontinue investments in encapsulation. Instead, as a direct consequence of the BlueINNOship project, Hempel and DTI (together with DHI) have initiated a new project on development of new catalysts.
Further, during the BlueINNOship project, we discovered that iron pyrithione is possibly a good biocide. This is currently undergoing further investigations at Hempel.
