Sensor for Continuous Detection and Reporting of Total Residual Oxidant in Hypochlorite-Enhanced Water Systems

The U.S. Navy has significantly improved its operational capabilities in littoral and near-shore seawater which has resulted in the need to achieve much better pre-treatment of the seawater withdrawn from the often turbid and debris-filled shallow waters for cooling and onboard desalination systems. Low-maintenance microfiltration is now used for pre-treatment, and it relies upon periodic electrolytic hypochlorite-enhanced seawater flushes. Increased littoral deployment of naval vessels has also seen an increase in biological fouling and clogging of vessel cooling systems, leading to the installation of electrolytic chlorination systems on ships and submarines to control biological fouling. Efficient electrolytic chlorination requires an active control feedback system in the form of a compact, near real-time in-stream detector capable of continuously detecting and reporting the total residual oxidant (TRO) content in the hypochlorite-enhanced seawater streams that the Navy uses for periodic biofouling control flushes. Efficient control/monitoring of electrolytic chlorine-generation systems requires a TRO sensor that will operate accurately, reliably and for long durations without maintenance in the marine environment. Pronghorn Technologies will complete the development and validation of replicate production-ready TRO sensor systems for dockside and shipboard evaluations from 0 to 500 ppm.