Antifoulings offer ‘best of both worlds’
Tanker owned by Chevron, coated with Intersmooth 7465Si SPC
International Paint has announced the introduction of two new antifouling hull coatings, known as Intersmooth 7465Si SPC and Interswift 6900Si silyl acrylate.
The company says that its aim is to improve and enhance customer choice, and claims to be the first and only global manufacturer to offer both copper acrylate and silyl acrylate antifouling coatings within a comprehensive range of fouling control technologies.
In 2006, International successfully patented silyl acrylate technology for use with products of <400g/l VOC (volatile organic compounds). This technology is incorporated into Intersmooth 7465Si SPC and Interswift 6900Si, which means both coatings can claim similar levels of in-service performance to the current Intersmooth 7460/5HS SPC and Interswift 6800HS copper acrylate antifoulings.
Both new silyl products have solvent emission levels of less than 400g/l VOC, which International says are among the lowest silyl acrylate solvent emission levels in the industry.
Designed for deep sea vessels at newbuilding and maintenance and repair, Intersmooth 7465Si SPC features 55% volume solids. Compared to lower volume solids products, this, the company says, results in shipyard benefits of faster application, reduced wastage and pail consumption and lower solvent emissions to the atmosphere. Reduced overspray leads to lower contamination levels in dock and reduced applicator exposure. For the vessel operator, the product is said to deliver predictable, high performance fouling control for up to 90 months (applicable to vessels covered by the EDD [extended drydocking ] programme). Its inherent self-smoothing action has the potential to reduce fuel use by 4% based on comparisons of the company’s measurements of performance of ships with SPC antifoulings with CDP or rosin based antifoulings over 60 month in service periods. International points out that lower fuel consumption leads to reduced operational costs, lower CO2 emissions and improved vessel operating image.
Interswift 6900Si incorporates patented silyl acrylate polymer technology. Also designed for vessels at newbuilding and maintenance and repair, the product offers 61% volume solids, surface tolerance and in-service periods of up to 60 months with potential fuel savings of 1.5%, on a similar basis to the example above.
Mike Hindmarsh, International Paint business development manager said: “We recognise that our customers have different requirements and operational preferences, which is why we offer a broad choice of fouling control products and technologies in our high performance range. Customers simply choose which technology option best meets their needs and we deliver the performance.”
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