Life cycle assessment of an antifouling coating based on time-dependent biofouling model

This paper presents a novel life cycle assessment (LCA) for antifouling coatings based on a time-dependent biofouling prediction model. The life cycle assessment covers environmental and monetary effects born from paint production to application, hull maintenance and added fuel consumption due to biofouling on the ship hull. The calculations related to the production and applications of the paints were made using the data provided by shipyards and coating manufacturers.The added frictional resistance due to biofouling accumulation and hence the added fuel consumptions during ship operations were predicted by time-dependent biofouling model proposed in the literature and then implemented into the overall life cycle assessment. The effects of ship operating profile and route on the fuel penalty due to biofouling accumulation on the antifouling coating were investigated for three case studies. The results were presented in terms of differences in increases in effective power, fuel oil consumption, fuel oil consumption costs, total costs and CO2 emissions due to different ship operating profiles and routes.