Exotic marine organisms Garveia franciscana, called “pelo de oso” by the locals, were detected in Lake Maracaibo after the lake was opened to the sea in 1959. These organisms adapt and maintain a favorable ecological growth in this environment.

“Telo de oso” constitutes one of the three components of the metal/biota/solution system that interact in Lake Maracaibo, producing biofouling and promoving microbiological corrosion. The latter generate great economic problems, maily: water-pump failures, increase in cleaning frequency at inlet, decreasing efficiecy of deoxygenating towers, increase in facility-maintenance costs due to unscheduled shutdowns, and so on.

The main objective of this study is to determine: a) The preference of “Telo de Oso” for metal or non-metal materials immersed in lake water and b) Electrochemical, Chemical and physical factors that might lead to an understanding of how to control “Telo de Oso” development and growth on equipment that uses lake water.

Subject
Biofouling, Water depth, Water, Materials, Probes, Aluminum, Copper alloys, Metals, Steel, Carbon steel, Copper, Zinc, Paints
Keywords:
Biofouling, Microbiological Corrosion, Pelo de Oso, Metals
© 2001 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2001
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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