ACOMAR

Challenge

A challenge for offshore constructions is marine biofouling, which permanently attaches to the structure. This leads to increased load and material fatigue, primarily due to increased wave forces and weight. Additionally, it complicates inspections, which are necessary to document the material's integrity. These drawbacks can be reduced by regularly cleaning the biofouling. Alternatively, the construction can be over-engineered during the design phase to withstand the loads from marine biofouling, which increases costs for both production/operation and thus energy production. The project aims to develop a concept for inspecting and combating marine biofouling using the latest robotics technology and automation, which is much less environmentally damaging.

Furthermore, biofouling complicates offshore inspections, which are essential to document the durability of platforms and foundations. These drawbacks can be minimized by regularly cleaning the biofouling. Alternatively, the construction can be over-engineered during the design phase to withstand the loads from marine biofouling. Both methods increase the costs of production and/or operation of the structures, and thus impact energy production.

In the North Sea alone, the industry currently spends a three-digit million amount annually to remove marine biofouling.

Solution

In the project, a number of partners will develop a specially designed underwater robot that can autonomously inspect and remove marine biofouling.

The technology can operate independently of large environmentally damaging vessels currently used for the cleaning task. The robot can be deployed directly from a wind turbine foundation or oil and gas platform, and requires only a support function while the task is being performed. It is expected that the concept will reduce cleaning costs by 30-40 percent.

Project Deliverables

ACOMAR – Auto Compact Marine Growth Remover. An intelligent underwater robot that can both inspect and clean the structure. It is automated, easy to transport offshore, and requires only 1-3 people to service it, compared to the current model, which requires 45-50 people.