In 2019, Lamers System Care installed the Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling system on 11 landing craft of the Ministry of Defense to keep them free from fouling in a sustainable manner.
The Royal Navy, as part of the Ministry of Defense, deploys its fleet and marines worldwide for security on and from the sea. Sustainability is important to the Ministry of Defense. This is one of the reasons why the sustainable Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling system was chosen in 2019.
A Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) is a small landing craft primarily intended for personnel transport. The MkV(c) type can transport 35 marines with complete equipment across water. The LCVPs are stationed in a protected nature reserve. Therefore, traditional anti-fouling may not be applied to the hull, as this would release harmful substances into the water.
Since anti-fouling cannot be used, algae growth on the hull occurs very rapidly. This results in increased fuel consumption, reduced speed, damage to the underwater hull, and diminished vessel lifespan, which is undesirable. For this reason, the Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling System was chosen, which will combat algae growth in an environmentally friendly manner and prevent further fouling.
The Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling system generates ultrasonic sounds, which cause vibration through the vessel’s hull construction. These sounds kill single-celled bacteria. The frequency of the ultrasonic signal between 20 and 60 KHz is most efficient, depending on the region and water temperature. One system has been installed on each LCVP unit, consisting of a control box and two transducers. The transducers are installed on the inside of the vessels to protect the hull against fouling. Instead of the standard transducer ring that is glued, aluminum base rings were used. The rings are bonded to the aluminum hull using a two-component epoxy adhesive. Defense chose aluminum rings to have the option to weld the rings to the hull if the adhesive does not provide sufficient bonding.
The control boxes are connected to both 220 VAC (shore power) and 24 VDC (batteries) so the system remains operational 24/7. Due to the extremely low energy consumption (7.2 Watts per system), this has no significant impact on the energy management.
The Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling system is a preventive, environmentally friendly, and sustainable system with low energy consumption. For this reason, this system fits excellently with the sustainability component of the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Navy.
The team at Lamers System Care is very pleased to contribute to this sustainability initiative.
