SMART FLOW by Lamers System Care is prevention, not a wash cycle: fouled box coolers are cleaned first, then ultrasone transducers keep biofilm from returning. Ultrasound does not strip a mature infestation; chemical or mechanical cleaning does that job, and SMART FLOW does the next one.
Core answer: clean, then prevent — never the other way round
Search results for “box cooler fouling treatment” are OEM service pages and chemical contractors. That is correct for a dirty unit. Wikipedia and field practice agree that ultrasonic antifouling generally maintains a clean surface and cannot clean a well-established biofouling infestation. Lamers System Care’s SMART FLOW (SmartFlow on lscare.nl) is the ultrasonic half of “consider an anti-fouling system after you have cleaned the bundle”: 24/7 vibration on the metal so biofilm does not re-form.
- Inspect first — you do not know the load until you look.
- Remove growth: high-pressure washing, manual removal, chemical flush, internal tube flushing.
- Restore coating if the anti-corrosion layer is gone; bare metal invites biology and flow drops.
- Only then run SMART FLOW continuously so the next docking is inspection, not another chemical bath.
Three jobs, three tools
| Job | What independent / OEM sources actually do | When it is the right move |
|---|---|---|
| Clean a dirty cooler | Nordic Green Products (USA / Weka Marine): inspect; high-pressure wash and manual removal of marine fouling; chemical cleaning with NGP Marine Fluid; internal flushing of tubes; freshwater rinse. Four box coolers were removed, serviced and reinstalled | When the bundle already has growth or you are in a maintenance window |
| Restore the coating | Kelvion: anti-corrosion coatings degrade over time; seaweed, algae and bacteria then restrict flow and lower thermal performance. Norwegian Hull Club: tube recoating is a specialist onshore process, not hull paint | When the isolation coating on the tubes is worn — corrosion as much as fouling |
| Stop it coming back | NRF inside-mounting manual: if excessive fouling on the outside of the tubes becomes frequent, “installation of an anti-fouling system should be considered” after cleaning to the maintenance section | After the surface is clean — ICAF copper anodes or SMART FLOW ultrasonic prevention |
| Source | How they frame treatment vs prevention |
|---|---|
| NRF box-cooler manual | Clean the bundle first; then consider an anti-fouling system (ICAF is the default in many OEM manuals; ultrasound is the alternative) |
| MME (ICAF / MGPS) | Copper-ion systems as the installed antifouling method on box coolers — the consumable SMART FLOW is meant to replace, not a cleaning chemical |
Turning transducers on over a blocked bundle wastes the docking window you already paid for. Clean the tubes, then specify SMART FLOW by Lamers System Care at lscare.nl.
