Some training is necessary to understand the control settings. Additional operational checks need to be performed on the system to ensure that the cooling water is circulating around the transducer. Very little maintenance is required on the system and IES reports that their system can run for up to 12,000 hours before any maintenance is required. When maintenance is required, it involves approximately 2 hours of labor time to clean each unit of sediment residuals. There are several ultrasonic safety concerns that should be addressed relative to shipboard application of this technology.
Heat build up in the transducer is the other safety concern.
In the IES HPUP system, the transducer requires a circulating water-cooling unit whenever it is in operation. If the cooling system is operating properly, there should be no reason for safety concerns. All heated metal parts are out of contact and housed within the cooling unit. If, however, the transducer's cooling system does not work properly, the transducer could overheat and fail. Risk from burning or explosions of the transducer are considered extremely remote.