| Résumé : |
When you buy a car, you probably check fuel consumption figures. Size, design, engine efficiency and tyres all play a part - but your choice of paint will have more to do with colour than aeronynamic efficiency.
Marine hull coatings are a different matter. A fouled hull requires as much as 40% more power to drive it through the water. In fact, a US Navy study has put the figure as high as 86% when a badly fouled ship is cruising as speed.
An average cargo ship might burn 300 tons of fuel a day, the larger ones as much as small power stations, and fuel prices have more than doubled since 2006. For operators, that represents more than $150000 of fuel per day while at sea. The costs are a major headache for the shipping industry, and fuel efficiency has become at hot topic. While engines, ship design and other factors are important, they cannot easily be changed : the biggest achievagle savings lie in efficient coating systems to keep hulls clean and smooth.
This coatings market is already worth over $5bn a year to the paint industry, and with so much at stake it is predicted to hit $10.2bn by 2018. |
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Lifting the lid : The antifouling efficiency measurement battleground in PROTECTIVE COATINGS EUROPE (PCE), Vol. 5, N° 1 (01-02-03/2013)
