Seawater-cooled chillers are efficient cooling methods for buildings on the seaside, but their equipment suffer from various issues related to seawater and its organisms. One of the problems is the fouling in seawater-cooled chillers which involves seawater organisms such as mussels and tubeworms. They block water flow, reduce energy efficiency of the chillers and may even damage the chiller under serious fouling situation. To keep the energy efficiency of the equipment at its design level and avoid damages to the equipment, fouling in equipment should be removed regularly. However, the organisms are stuck at the chiller intakes using their suckers and grow quickly. This renders their removal process difficult and time-consuming.
To improve the situation, Harbour City Estates Limited collaborates with Aviva Yacht Limited, City University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong to use a nano-photocatalytic marine antifouling paint at the chiller intake to avoid the growth of the organisms. The paint reacts with sunlight to generate ions that destroy micro-organisms and prevent the growth of the organisms in its surroundings. This avoids the organisms from blocking the chiller intake, keeps the chiller energy efficiency at a high level, and reduces the labour cost and time for cleaning. Initial tests at Harbour City have already shown that the paint can resist the growth of the organisms at the intake for a month and can enhance energy efficiency, and the test will be continued to examine its advantages for larger-scale deployment.
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