Experimental Study of Ultrasound Effect on Microperiphyton of Artificial Substrates for Fouling Protection of Technical Water Supply Circuit of Nuclear Power Plants

E. L. Nevrova1,*, A. N. Petrov1, N. A. Moroz2, A. B. Kasyanov2

1 A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia

2 All-Russian Research Institute for Nuclear Power Plants Operation JSC, Moscow, Russia

* e-mail: el_nevrova@mail.ru

Abstract

During exploitation of nuclear power plants, biofouling forms in the elements of the technical water supply circuit, which results in equipment malfunction, underproduction of electricity, and economic losses. One of the methods to prevent biofouling on immersed surfaces is ultrasound exposure. To study the peculiarities of biofouling development in water pipelines of a nuclear power plant, the impact of an ultrasonic device on the formation of benthic diatom algae (Bacillariophyta) – the primary stage in the succession of the microfouling community – was assessed. Microperiphyton consisting of diatoms, bacteria, and protozoa, forms biofilm on surfaces and promotes active development of macrofouling community leading to further reduction of efficiency of nuclear power plants. Long-term experiments were carried out in the laboratory and nearshore marine area to study the influence of ultrasonic device at different power and duration of exposure on periphyton development on steel and concrete samples. It was found that increasing the intensity of the ultrasonic device has a pronounced effect on microfouling of substrates reducing the abundance and species richness of diatoms. Based on the results, it was recommended to extend the experiments using a full-function ultrasonic device of higher power during exploitation of a nuclear power plant.

Keywords

biofouling, ultrasonic protection methods, nuclear power plant process equipment, benthic diatom, Bacillariophyta

Acknowledgments

The work was carried out in the Benthic Ecology Department of the Federal Research Center of IBSS under state assignment no. 121030100028-0 (“Regularities of formation and anthropogenic transformation of biodiversity and bioresources of the Azov-Black Sea basin and other regions of the World Ocean”) and under initiative works of VNIIAES JSC. The authors are grateful to leading engineers of IBSS S. A. Trofimov and Yu. I. Litvin and to engineer of VNIIAES JSC S. L. Tarasyuk for carrying out the experiments, as well as to head of Laboratory of Microscopy of IBSS V. N. Lishaev for SEM microphotographing.

For citation

Nevrova, E.L., Petrov, A.N., Moroz, N.A. and Kasyanov, A.B., 2023. Experimental Study of Ultrasound Effect on Microperiphyton of Artificial Substrates for Fouling Protection of Technical Water Supply Circuit of Nuclear Power Plants. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of Sea, (3), pp. 98–113.

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