MAT4OEC

Project Description

This OCEANERA-NET COFUND project will focus on monitoring systems and materials, especially in coatings, to avoid the negative effect of corrosion and biofouling in the marine renewable energy sector. At present, huge research efforts in understanding and preventing biofouling and corrosion of materials and structures immersed in the marine environment are being carried out. It has been estimated that the total cost of marine corrosion worldwide is between $50-80 billion every year. The coating industry accounts for almost 40% of the total direct costs, and the largest portion of this cost (~88%) is attributed to organic coatings. MAT4OEC aims to develop advanced materials for Ocean Energy Converters (OEC) to improve the resistance to marine environment of current and future materials, increasing the reliability, durability and survivability, contributing significantly to LCoE reduction. Two main approaches will be followed: 1) advanced coating for steel structures (most widely used structural material) to reduce the problem of corrosion and biofouling, and 2) advanced coatings for composite materials biofouling (promising material for ocean energy devices and subsystems such as blades) to avoid biofouling. A monitoring system will also be developed to analyse the evolution of corrosion and biofouling in both approaches.