Your electrochlorination system is a big investment – one where the project specifications play a huge role in the system cost.

A high-quality electrochlorination system passes an electric current through salty water. By doing so, an electrochlorination system produces hypochlorite that is used to prevent biofouling. 

Many owners do not understand how much of an impact that required project specifications have on the purchase price for these systems. Sometimes customer specifications and standards can double or even triple standard system costs! Let’s talk about the system components that drive these costs so you can understand your investment or take steps to make yours as economical as possible - while still meeting all necessary standards.

When it comes to effective biofouling control, there are few components more essential to your system’s processes than electrochlorination cells. These cells generate chlorine that can help prevent inefficient, expensive system downtime by controlling biofouling organisms such as barnacles, mussels, and film-forming microbes. 

As electrochlorination cells do their work, they will produce byproducts called hydroxides. These can clog the cells , resulting in inefficiency and even failure. 

To make sure that your electrochlorination cells can do their jobs correctly, you need to perform consistent maintenance. The most important part of that maintenance involves removing hydroxide deposits through effective cleaning practices. If you do, your electrochlorination cells and hypochlorite generator will be able to operate continuously for years. 

The alternative? A very costly—and premature—replacement. Let’s discuss the best way to avoid that outcome through regular acid cleaning practices.

Water, water, everywhere: When you’re at sea, one of the most precious commodities you need to produce and protect is, somewhat ironically, clean water. Your offshore rig or vessel depends upon disinfected, pure seawater to keep all of your seawater utility systems running safely and efficiently. One way to ensure effectiveness and efficiency is to reduce or prevent any instances of biofouling in your rig’s seawater utility systems.

Your vessel’s electrochlorination units work to reduce biofouling in your system’s pipes, heat exchangers, and firewater systems. These treatment systems also prevent biofouling in your system’s pipes, pumps, and heat exchangers. It even reduces corrosion from microbes present in seawater, leading to system durability and longevity. 

In short, investing in a good electrochlorination system is a good way to ensure that your rig’s seawater utility systems run smoothly. 

Interested in what’s going on behind the scenes? Here’s what you need to know about how electrochlorination systems work:

When you’re planning maintenance for your offshore oil rig or another large vessel like an FPSO, the plans you’re likely most interested in are those that pertain directly to oil production (or your end goals). After all, those machines are the reason you’re in the water. It’s easy to see how the time you spend maintaining those machines is well worth every second. 

However, there is a whole host of machines aboard your vessel that are equally important, if not more so. These are the systems that help support the safety and health of your crew while you’re out at sea. A prime example is your vessel’s hypochlorite generator—a machine that functions as a vital part of your at-sea water treatment system.

When you’re prioritizing maintenance for your vessel or offshore production platform, it’s important to know the reasoning behind your investment. Taking the time to understand what each machine on your vessel does can help clarify why maintenance and replacement parts are crucial for your safety and quality of life while at sea.

One such machine is your vessel’s sodium hypochlorite generator. From time to time, you’ll need to invest time and money into ensuring that this generator is working the way it should. Why is this important? What does your sodium hypochlorite generator do, anyway? What will happen if you don’t care for it as you should? 

We’ll discuss these questions and more in this blog:

Why is my seawater hypochlorite generator not producing the concentration I want? The short answer to the that question is to stop worrying about concentration (how strong the hypochlorite is) and instead understand your plant’s specified generating capacity, which is typically rated as the mass of hypochlorite generated over a period of time. This is typically measured in kg/hour or lbs/day generated.