Biofouling is the undesirable accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae and animals on submerged structures especially ship hulls. Biofouling also occurs on the surface of living marine organisms. It is also found on membrane systems such as membrane bioreactors and reverse osmosis spiral wound membranes. In the same manner, it is found in cooling water cycles of large industrial equipments...

Biofouling is a problem common in all systems where microorganisms and aqueous environment meet. Prevention of biofouling is therefore important in many industrial processes. The aim of this study was to develop a method to evaluate the ability of material coating to inhibit biofilm formation. Chitosan-coated polypropylene nonwoven textile was prepared using dielectric barrier discharge plasma ...

Factors affecting filtration characteristics in submerged hollow fiber membrane were investigated in membrane-coupled moving bed biofilm reactor (M-CMBBR). The trend of membrane biofouling in M-CMBBR was quite different from that in a conventional membrane bioreactor (MBR). The M-CMBBR showed much lower biofouling rate than a conventional MBR. Whereas the membrane biofouling in conventional MBR...

One new non-chemical method for removal of biofouling utilizes pulsed acoustic waves above the cavitation threshold to remove accumulated scale and/or biofouling from the inside walls of piping and other enclosed structures. The pulsed acoustic wave successively removes accumulated deposits as the arc-discharge source is moved down the tube by an operator. We describe a program developing a com...

Biofouling is detrimental to the hydrodynamic performance of ships. In spite of advances in hull coating technology, a ship must usually undergo underwater hull cleaning to remove biofouling during her in-service time. However, some cleaning practices may also lead to decreased lifetime of the fouling-control coating. Therefore, cleaning forces should be minimized, according to the adhesion str...

Biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) remains a primary challenge for their wider application, despite the growing acceptance of MBRs worldwide. Research studies on membrane fouling are extensive in the literature, with more than 200 publications on MBR fouling in the last 3 years; yet, improvements in practice on biofouling control and management have been remarkably slow. Commonly applied...

Numerous engineered and natural environments suffer deleterious effects from biofouling and/or biofilm formation. For instance, bacterial contamination on biomedical devices pose serious health concerns. In membrane-based technologies, such as desalination and wastewater reuse, biofouling decreases membrane lifetime, and increases the energy required to produce clean water. Traditionally, appro...

Biofouling, also known as barnacles and slime, may not be the trendiest, high-tech topic of conversation in the world of operational energy. Most would rather discuss a new weapon system or innovative green technology that allows Sailors and Marines to increase operational tempo or achieve more efficient fuel consumption. What most people don’t realize is that biofouling may actually represent ...

Non-specific surface adsorption of bio-macromolecules (e.g. proteins) on nanoparticles, known as biofouling, and the uptake of nanoparticles by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and reticuloendothelial system (RES) lead to substantial reduction in the efficiency of target-directed imaging and delivery in biomedical applications of engineered nanomaterials in vitro and in vivo. In this work...