The NoName Group is based in Catania, Italy, and was founded in 2014 with the aim of developing and marketing the NoName patent of its founder, Eng. Lucio Piticchio. In Italy, the product is marketed exclusively by the company NoName London.
The Noname system – Biohealty Water is a new technology for water treatment: using a mixture of inert gases, it is able to solubilize calcium in water, cleaning the water network and helping to maintain it. It is completely safe and ecological.
Main target and goals
Arconhe’s current target audience includes ships stationary in port, whatever their length, but the company also aims to reach offshore or sailing vessels in the future.
NoName’s main goal is to guarantee the user savings in fuel (8% on average) and fresh water for cooling, and absolute cleanliness of the fresh water supply on board, eliminating the risk of contracting legionella and similar diseases. In addition to Limescale Prevention, the system allows significant energy and gas savings, which leads to a gain for the customer.
Installation and maintenance
The product, connected to the exchangers and the on-board water circuit, can be installed directly by customers or by any technician: the process is simple, and Arconhe supplies the kit complete with all the necessary materials and instructions for effective Water Circuit Maintenance.
The company offers a perennial maintenance service to those who install NoName. At the moment, it is present at civil and military sites throughout the country, but Arconhe is also making arrangements with large companies in Italy and abroad, in some cases in countries suffering from serious water problems.
The project in detail
The AUTNONAME technological research project was aimed at creating a functional and commercially attractive prototype of an Automatic System for Limescale control. This system manages the dosage of a food-grade inert gas mixture (Noname) used to solubilise and prevent the formation of calcareous concretions and biofilm inside the piping and accessories of freshwater or seawater circuits installed on board Naval Unit Water Systems.
The system has demonstrated its ability to monitor, both continuously and remotely, a series of carefully selected chemical and physical parameters of the processed water: through these, it is possible to verify the action of the Noname and, by means of feedback control, to appropriately adjust the dosage.
Noname promises to achieve the ultimate resolution of the limescale problem by extending the so-called ‘Mean Time to Failure’ of the system, which – always working close to its nominal values – will reach maximum efficiency.
Batch 1
With the first batch, the state of the art on methods for solubilisation and removal of limescale and biofilm was defined. Different descaling treatments were described, including different chemical additives, the use of electromagnetic field-based systems, CO2-based processes, softeners, etc.
Advantages and disadvantages of each treatment were outlined in relation to the expected results. Furthermore, the experimental procedure to be followed was defined, parameterising it on a Naval Unit with a crew of 200 people and considering a per capita consumption of approximately 200 litres of fresh water per day.
To recreate the required conditions, the University of Genoa Simulation Team designed and built a pilot circuit on the basis of which the calculations for the preliminary analysis of the various fluid parameters were set up. The pipes were chosen in accordance with the standard characteristics adopted on most of the Naval Units in use.
Batch 2
The pilot plant, sensors, processing system and measurement and analysis equipment were set up and tested. The data acquisition system included a multi-parameter probe for the measurement of pH, temperature, dissolved free oxygen and water conductivity, and two operable, hand-held cameras for remote plant supervision.
Batch 3
A baseline of parameters was drawn up and then used in the continuation of the experiment as a reference to compare the results obtained. In order to provide statistically relevant results, a Design of Experiment (DoE) was designed for the planning of experiments to be consistent with available time and resources.
Batch 4
Several sections of encrusted pipeline were inserted using a laboratory technique, performing repeated tests in different configurations, with and without the addition of Noname to study their effectiveness.
Batch 5
In the course of this batch, the tests of Lot 4 were repeated by adding commonly used sanitising agents (hypochlorite and monochloramine) to verify the possible interaction of Noname with them.
Batch 6
The AUTNONAME system, developed in cooperation with ELSEL, was introduced for the automatic control of parameters and regulation of gas dosage. The system allows automatic regulation of the gas flow based on the input and pressure values of the water within the circuit. It provided a constant delivery of the set flow value of the gas mixture, adapting to fluctuations in flow and pressure in the system: the readiness and effectiveness of the AUTNONAME system’s response to different experimental conditions was thus ascertained during the tests.
Batch 7
In the final batch, pipe sections were replaced with sections from real systems in which water circulated, thus with limescale deposits inside due to the natural process. A metallographic and surface analysis was conducted in order to characterise the internal structure of the test specimens and to assess the limescale residues on the internal surface; replications of the experiment lasting 24 h each were performed. A comparison of a specimen before and after treatment is shown in Figure as an example.
