Groton-based PEL Associates and its new business start-up, Smart Coating Systems, have developed a product its creator said may revolutionize ship hull coatings.
The product being developed and marketed under the name Smart Coating Systems is a greener solution to traditional ship hull paints, which often leech harmful metals into the ocean.
Morton L. Wallach, president of PEL Associates, said Smart Coating Systems has a number of applications, but the company is focusing right now on defouling ship hulls. And that innovation earned PEL the Hartford Business Journal’s Energy Summit Innovation — Organization Award.
“Any ship that goes out to sea gets fouling (an accumulation of unwanted materials) on the hull,” Wallach said. “It slows down the ship, creates more drag, and as a result, more fuel is required. The typical paints used on hulls currently have heavy metals that are released into the water (during defouling), which will kill certain types of fish.”
Wallach said such paints are being outlawed worldwide, and there is no good replacement on the market.
“What our product does is make it easier to remove fouling on command at any time, and there’s less fouling as a result — less fuel is required, then you have less carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases emitted,” he said. “Since there are so many ships at sea, it’s a huge effect when you can reduce fuel (usage) five to 10 percent.”
Under current defouling methods, every year ships will be taken into a port or marina to be cleaned up. Wallach said workers often throw portions of the heavy metal-laden paint that gets removed into the water.
“Some states, such as Connecticut, have tried to restrict marinas not to do that, but in so doing, they’re going to have to collect a huge amount of water used to clean every ship or yacht, so it’s very impractical.”
Using the Smart Coating Systems method, the fouling is collected with a film material consisting of several layers that are placed under the boat. The technology uses directed heat input from electrical, acoustic or microwave energy to remove a fouled layer.
“It’s removed at will, so you can always remove a fouling periodically,” he said. “You can remove the top layer with the fouling and the next layer is perfectly clean.”
Under this method, the film material would then be rolled up and put in a box to be transported elsewhere and destroyed safely, eliminating any safety concerns.
While Smart Coating Systems’ products have not been launched yet, Wallach said the product’s impact on the industry is potentially huge.
“The market for ship hull fouling paint is about $3 billion a year,” he said. “The current product has many deficiencies and we have a real advantage — the potential is great. We figure in the third year, we’ll be into millions of dollars of profit.”
Wallach said with one large cruise liner, his company could potentially make a profit of $150,000 to $200,000 per ship.
“We put on all three layers at once, so our costs are much less than current technology — at least 20 to 30 percent less,” he said.
Wallach said current methods are very time consuming.
“You can imagine how long it takes to paint these huge vessels on dry dock – a cruise liner is about 150 wide and 1,000 feet long,” he said. “With certainly vessels like military ships sitting in port for a long time, the longer they sit there, they get very heavy fouling — then they have to clean it up first before they go.”
Smart Coating Systems’ method reduces the amount of fouling on the ship at any given time, reducing the wait for ships that are on a strict schedule that must be defouled before leaving port.
PEL Associates has created prototypes, developed key suppliers and chosen a potential facility. Patents have also been secured. The technology could potentially have other applications, including corrosion removal from surfaces on command, defouling of sonar domes and periscope windows.
