Non-Invasive Fouling Recognition System
The GEF award will be used to partially support the costs of NUIS working in partnership with NTU on a collaborative research project to develop a fouling recognition system for non-invasive assessments of fouling.
Project leader
Dr Cheng Siong Chin (PI)
Professor Tony Clare
Dates
November 2015 to November 2017
Sponsors
Global Excellence Fund
Partners
PACC Offshore Services Holdings Ltd
School of EEE in Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Description
Major water quality concerns for ships:
- Ballast water discharge
- Leaking of toxic substances from ships
- Marine fouling on ship’s hull
In warm waters there is an accumulation of marine fouling on the hulls of ships. This has a negative effect on speed and fuel consumption.
This natural phenomenon brings up the following issues:
- Loss of speed and increase of time during ballast passages
- Costs and delays associated with necessity of hull cleaning
In this project, we aim to develop a fouling recognition system for non-invasive assessment of fouling.
Novel software algorithm has the capability to automate fouling and surface characterization.
This includes:
- Corrosion
- Average fouling growth rate
- Types of barnacles
The software uses the captured images of real time fouling condition.