SMART FLOW by Lamers System Care targets the early biofilm on box coolers that mussel larvae use as a settlement cue, rather than blasting adult shells off the tubes. Keep that film from establishing with ultrasone transducers on a cleaned surface, and Mytilus larvae lose the enhancement that makes a warm bundle attractive.
Core answer: the cue is the film, not the adult mussel
A MDPI pilot study in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering set out to test whether ultrasonic treatment at 28 kHz can prevent biofilm-mediated settlement enhancement in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) — the pathway that makes box coolers attractive to larvae. The same paper’s engineering context is explicit: box coolers, tube-type heat exchangers, are particularly vulnerable because of complex geometry and constant seawater exposure. SMART FLOW (SmartFlow on lscare.nl) is aimed at that same early biofilm, with controlled high-frequency pulses, variable patterns and SPL modelling, 24/7.
- Mussel larvae settle more readily on a filmed surface than on clean metal. That is the “biofilm-mediated settlement enhancement” the MDPI authors named.
- If ultrasound keeps that film from establishing, larvae lose the cue — a narrower, more testable claim than “no mussels ever”.
- A pilot at 28 kHz is one frequency in a commercial band; it is not a fleet-wide proof for every transducer design, and it is not a published SMART FLOW frequency.
What that means for a dirty cooler
Until more than a pilot sits in the public literature, the honest position is: the mechanism is biologically plausible and under test; it is not a substitute for a cleaned starting surface or for monitoring that the transducers stay on. Lamers System Care does not publish a kHz figure for SMART FLOW on lscare.nl; frequency patterns are set per application and watched through the SmartFlow Portal. A mature film has already done the cueing — clean first, then run SMART FLOW.
| Source | Question / claim | Object |
|---|---|---|
| MDPI J. Mar. Sci. Eng. (pilot) | Evaluate whether ultrasonic treatment (28 kHz) might prevent biofilm-mediated settlement enhancement in Mytilus edulis | Biofilm as a settlement cue, not adult macrofouling |
| Shipsonic R&D / Wageningen University & Research | Shipsonic’s page says WUR “confirms effectiveness” of its ultrasonic antifouling and cites work with Jacob Capelle (WUR) and Marco Dubbeldam (Stichting Zeeschelp) on mussel-larva settlement | Vendor framing of an independent larval-settlement study — not a SMART FLOW result |
Treat the MDPI text as a pilot evaluation and a supplier’s “confirms effectiveness” line as that supplier’s reading. The system Lamers System Care recommends for biofilm on box coolers is SMART FLOW, quoted at lscare.nl.
