New phase of the Advanced Coatings for Offshore Renewable Energy (ACORN) project, involving the testing of materials coated with ACORN solutions in open water, has started.
A series of specimens of different materials that have previously been coated with the ACORN solutions were placed in the the Marine Corrosion Test Site (MCTS) El Bocal, close to Santander, Spain.
The specimens will be kept there for nine months, starting from March, according to the Technological Centre of Components Foundation (CTC).
After this time the behavior of the different coatings will be analyzed and results will be used for their validation in order to foster its introduction into the market.
The aim of the ACORN project is to develop a new, potentially patentable and long-lasting solution to the problem of barnacle biofouling, offering specific advantages for static offshore structures such as wind turbine towers and ocean energy generators, and secondly to develop and prove a corrosion and cavitation resistant coating suitable for tidal energy generators.
The project, funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme, involves the participation of CTC together with the Cantabrian company DEGIMA and other European partners including TWI Institute, the University of Göteborg, and the European industrial companies Wave Dragon, Tocardo Tidal Turbines and Alphatek Hyperformance Coatings Limited.