Cathelco pipework anti-fouling system for FPSO

Cathelco’s anti-fouling electrolysis tank system will be installed on the MT Onozo, an Aframax tanker which is being converted to an FPSO. After modification at the Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Berhad (MHB) shipyard in Malaysia, the vessel will be renamed FPSO Cendor and will be operated in the Cendor offshore oil field in Terengganu in West Malaysia by Petrofac Malaysia.

The purpose of the tank, which has been built to ASME standards, is to dose seawater with copper ions to protect inlets and pipework from blockages caused by barnacles and mussels. The ions create an environment where fouling species’ larvae do not settle or breed and also help to maintain a protective oxide layer on the internal surfaces of pipes to suppress corrosion.

Julianna Measures, anti-fouling engineer, Cathelco, said: “Electrolysis tanks provide a practical solution to the requirements of FPSOs where a number of inlets need to be protected against bio-fouling. One of the advantages is that the anodes can be easily replaced without drydocking, an important factor on vessels which remain on station for many years.”

The dosed water will be distributed to intakes serving fire fighting pumps and ballast water pumps, as well as machinery rooms and pump room seachests.