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Barnacles are far more interesting than rust. Not least because they are hermaphrodites, that also have the longest penises of any species. Barnacles (and alga

Barnacles are far more interesting than rust. Not least because they are hermaphrodites, that also have the longest penises of any species. Barnacles (and algal slime and so on) create significant hydrodynamic drag and damage paint, leading to rust also. Toxic chemicals are added to hull paint in order to repel them, but it is of limited efficacy and very bad for the environment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/science/barnacles-ships-coating.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/science/barnacles-ships-c... I have often mused on the possibility of a small barnacle cleaning robot. Something the clamped and crawled with an electromagnet, a crushing/scraping barnacle doom. A number of systems out there, but none seem to have cracked the problem. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.5772/62060 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.5772/62060 https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121416-161958/unrestricted/USCG_Final_2016.pdf https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-12141...

tandr 7y ago
Would electrifying hull, or making some high frequency electric zaps to the hull make these barnacles to fall off/not to attach? (just thinking out loud, it is probably have been tried given how common this problem is...)
- angry_octet 7y ago
  When you say electrifying, what are the places there is a potential across? Because salt water is an excellent conductor. I have wondered whether a microwave would do the trick. Basically cooking the algae. The trick is then to access all the books and crannies, e.g. near the propeller. Unfortunately it probably wouldn't remove any barnacle polymer cement or other buildup, like the awful tube worms, you'd still need mechanical scrubbing. With electrical techniques you also have to avoid magnetising the hull, which on navy vessels has been carefully degaussed.
  - tandr 7y ago
    Thank you. I totally forgot about degaussed hulls...

tandr 7y ago

Would electrifying hull, or making some high frequency electric zaps to the hull make these barnacles to fall off/not to attach? (just thinking out loud, it is probably have been tried given how common this problem is...)

angry_octet 7y ago
When you say electrifying, what are the places there is a potential across? Because salt water is an excellent conductor. I have wondered whether a microwave would do the trick. Basically cooking the algae. The trick is then to access all the books and crannies, e.g. near the propeller. Unfortunately it probably wouldn't remove any barnacle polymer cement or other buildup, like the awful tube worms, you'd still need mechanical scrubbing. With electrical techniques you also have to avoid magnetising the hull, which on navy vessels has been carefully degaussed.
- tandr 7y ago
  Thank you. I totally forgot about degaussed hulls...