MARINE AND INDUSTRIAL BIOFOULING

The biofouling is considered a very costly problem which is faced in a really wide range of various technical systems, from the maritime industry to power industry, purification of the water, paints, and even microelectronics. The organisms that attach themselves to the outer surfaces and then accumulate on them, form the so-called biolfilms that might potentially result in the interferences, and this is actually a natural process.

Normally, people in the industry apply a medical paradigm when trying to get rid of this problem, and such approach implies killing the biofilms. However, this will inevitably lead to the excessive use of the biocides; in addition, note that the success of such strategy would be quite limited. And, moreover, this could lead to serious damage to the equipment and even the environmental pollution.

That is why simply killing the fooling organisms cannot be considered a good strategy. This volume will present the most successful strategies of prevention of the adhesion, mitigation of the extent and effects caused by the biofouling, detection and removal of the fouling layers. The authors have elaborated the holistic approaches and took into consideration such important aspects as limitation of nutrients, replacement of the biocides with other methods etc.