KR840000346Y1 - Coverings for submersible or semi-submersile structures - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Anti-fouling cover of submersible and semi-submersible structures

1 is a perspective view of a ship with a panel attached to the hull.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of part A of the vessel of FIG. 1 showing four panels arranged neatly.

3 is a perspective view of one form of a panel partially cut away to show the mesh shape.

4 is an enlarged, detailed cross-sectional view of another form of panel attached to the hull of a ship.

The present invention is directed to inhibiting the growth of sea creatures in submersible or semi-submersible structures.

The growth of marine organisms, such as mucus, clam hatches, tubeworms, mollusks, and certain animal organisms such as sponges and anemones, adversely affects the structures described above. Such listing promotes corrosion and, in particular, increases hydraulic loads and severely hinders inspection and maintenance of structures, especially for structures anchored at sea such as pipelines or pollution and gas platforms. For mobile structures, such as ship hulls, for example, some molluscs, such as reticles, can attach to the surface of the structure at normal speeds. However, if they are contaminated by the attachment of other substances or the growth of living organisms, it is necessary to enter the ship at elections at regular intervals for cleaning and re-painting, or at least calm place to clean the hull under water. There is.

Copper has long been used to inhibit or prevent the growth of sea creatures in structures receiving sea water. In general, a thin copper sheet was attached to the hull of wooden ships to prevent listing of such sea creatures.

However, the use of copper plates is impractical for structures of ferrous metals, such as, for example, ship hulls or structures anchored at sea. This is because the cost of coating the copper plate is high, and the contact between the copper and the structure lowers the corrosion of the ferrous metal, and the structure is quickly damaged. In recent years, copper ions have been released to paint structures with copper salts that detoxify the marine organisms. Such a method has a relatively short life span of the coating and has a difficulty of frequently repainting at regular intervals.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a submersible or semi-submersible structure in which an anti-fouling cover is fixed, wherein the cover is made of a mesh comprising copper or copper alloy embedded in a carrier material. The copper mentioned above receives seawater from the outer surface of a cover.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided a cover for a submersible or semi-submersible structure, consisting of a copper or copper alloy mesh embedded in a carrier material.

The carrier material is preferably a plastic material such as, for example, a thermoplastic polymer such as polypropylene or a thermosetting polymer such as polyester. Such polymers may be used with fiberglass reinforcement in the form of mats or any chopping or roving.

Pure copper or many copper alloys can preferably be used as the material for the mesh with a copper content of at least 60%. For example, bronze containing 95% copper can be used for use in stationary conditions such as structures anchored in the sea or for use at low speeds. For high speed structures such as ship hulls, approximately 90 to 10 copper-nickel alloys can be used with small amounts of iron or other elements. The alloying components are modified to improve the corrosiveness due to the increased operating speed. Also other copper alloys can be used, for example aluminum bronze containing 90% or more copper. In general, the greater the copper content of the alloy, the greater the inhibitory effect of the growth of marine organisms.

The size of the mesh is conveniently in the range of 3-60 mesh / inch (1.2-24 mesh / cm), and the wire diameter is conveniently 0.05-1.5 mm. The inventors have found that it is desirable to use a mesh size of at least 12 mesh / inch (4.7 mesh / cm) to subtract the decrease in growth of sea creatures. However, considering other factors such as ease of production and cost, the optimum mesh size is probably in the range of 20 mesh / inch (8.0 mesh / cm).

It is preferable that the outer surface of the mesh is exposed to seawater, and that the nodes protrude through the outer surface of the carrier material or are at the same level as the outer surface. For wires of constant mesh size and dimensions, it is desirable that the nodes are all coplanar, and that they are regularly spaced apart from each other so that many metals are used on the outer surface subjected to seawater during use. In the pure copper mesh, it was found by the inventors that the exposed area of the metal is preferably about 13% or more of the covering area.

The cover may be formed as a panel, which may be adhered to the structure using a suitable adhesive such as air-curable or water-curable epoxy adhesive, and is preferably flexible to be able to attach to the structure of the ship's hull or sea. . However, the panel can be fixed to the structure by mechanical means, for example, by tying. The panel may be formed by any suitable method such as casting, spreading, hot pressing or calendering, for example. The thickness of each panel is preferably 0.05-2.00 mm.

Sometimes the carrier material can be applied directly to the structure, for example by spraying the carrier material on the structure, or by embedding the mesh in the carrier material on the structure.

In order to project the mesh to the outer surface of the cover so that it can be in direct contact with the seawater during use, the panel can be formed of a mesh exposed to the outer surface, or the outer surface can be polished to expose the mesh.

However, there is no need to expose the mesh and in direct contact with sea water, especially for mobile structures, but it can be coated with a thin layer of plastic material that is permeable to the water, preferably the back, which can diffuse. have. The surface coating may take the form of a polyester or epoxy film, and the film described above may be insoluble by sea water to provide an insoluble material or porous structure to improve the water permeability of layers such as cotton fibers, wood fibers or wood flour. It may be filled with a water-soluble substance such as copper oxide. In any case, the coating film may be the same material as the carrier and may be integrated with the carrier.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The panel P consists of a layer 1 of carrier material in the form of glass-reinforced polyester and a mesh 2 of copper alloy embedded therein. The copper content of the alloy is 90% optimal but should be at least 70%.

The mesh has nodes 3 protruding from the front face of the pan or at the same height as the front face for direct contact with sea water in the form of the pan shown in FIG. 3. However, the node is never adjacent to the rear panel (5) of the panel.

In another form of the panel shown in FIG. 4, the panel is secured to the hull 6 of the boat by an adhesive layer 7 and covered with a thin layer 8 of resin material filled with cotton fiber or the like through which seawater can penetrate. have. In some cases, the mesh may be completely embedded in the carrier material 1 which surrounds the mesh and permeates seawater.

In each type of panel, the nodes are spaced at regular intervals and the distance between adjacent nodes is 0.25-7 mm.

In use, a number of panels are secured to the back side 5 of the structure, for example the surface of the hull of the ship, with a suitable adhesive. Since the copper alloy mesh is insulated from the structure by the carrier backing 5, no electro-chemical interaction occurs between the mesh and the structure. Moreover, the carrier material and the adhesive provide a barrier that effectively reduces the corrosion of the structure by seawater.

The mesh can be braided or woven, or can be woven, or can be an expanded metal mesh. In the case of woven mesh, the copper wire can rot with the wire of other materials, such as plastic. As an example, weaving can be done using all the copper wires in one direction and all the polar wires in the other direction.

In standard woven mesh, half of the number of nodes on one side of the mesh is generally arranged in one plane and the other half in the other plane. The two planes described above are slightly spaced apart. In this example, the nodes are arranged in a single plane so that they all protrude from the front surface of the barrier 4 or are at the same level as the front surface 4. The formation of nodes in a single plane is possible, for example, by rolling a standard mesh or by a suitable weaving process.

During the endurance of the panel, the back melts from the mesh and diffuses through the coating layer 8 in the panel of FIG. However, the mesh allows the copper alloy to leach out gradually by sea water and flow continuously. Therefore, the durability of the cover can be adjusted by appropriately selecting the type of alloy, the size of the alloy mesh and the diameter of the mesh wire so as to be suitable for a particular use.

Dispersion speed of copper can be further controlled by applying dislocations to the mesh, which control the amount of release and so on. In some cases, the mesh may contain copper or copper alloys and other metal wires to control the dispersion rate. For example, nickel may be woven into each other to improve the toxicity of the cover or zinc may be used to suppress the toxicity.

The cover described above is relatively simple to attach to the structure, avoids the electro-chemical reaction between the structure and the verb, can control the emission of the back, and has a price advantage due to the choice of mesh size. It has advantages over copper alloy plates.

Claims (1)

In an anti-contamination cover for submersible and semi-submersible structures made of an inert carrier material having a material containing copper, the cover contains braided or woven copper or copper alloy wire mesh (2) Submerged and semi-submersible items, characterized in that a part of the nodes of the wire mesh (3) protrude at regular intervals on the outer surface of the carrier and the rest of the wire mesh is shallowly buried in the carrier material (1). Pollution cover.