Review of Underwater Ship Hull Cleaning Technologies

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive review and analysis of ship hull cleaning technologies. Various cleaning methods and devices applied to dry-dock cleaning and underwater cleaning are introduced in detail, including rotary brushes, high-pressure and cavitation water jet technology, ultrasonic technology, and laser cleaning technology. The application of underwater robot technology in ship cleaning not only frees divers from engaging in heavy work but also creates safe and efficient industrial products. Damage to the underlying coating of the ship caused by the underwater cleaning operation can be minimized by optimizing the working process of the underwater cleaning robot. With regard to the adhesion technology mainly used in underwater robots, an overview of recent developments in permanent magnet and electromagnetic adhesion, negative pressure force adhesion, thrust force adhesion, and biologically inspired adhesion is provided. Through the analysis and comparison of current underwater robot products, this paper predicts that major changes in the application of artificial intelligence and multirobot cooperation, as well as optimization and combination of various technologies in underwater cleaning robots, could be expected to further lead to breakthroughs in developing next-generation robots for underwater cleaning.

Keywords

Biofouling / Dry-dock cleaning / Underwater ship cleaning / Adhesion technology / Cleaning robot