Page 68: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 15, 1969)

GE Offers Floating Powerplant For Offshore Oil Production Major parts of a floating powerplant system for deep-water, remote oil production are shown. Buoy contains modified aircraft gas turbine engine and alternators. Mooring system carries fuel from the bottom to the power-plant and electric power down to the cylindrical sea terminal for oil production use. Support vessel is lower-ing divers in capsule for periodic maintenance. A modified aircraft jet engine propulsion system floating in a buoy would be a reliable, economical prime source of power for remote, deep-water oil production, General Electric en-gineers told the Offshore Technology Confer-ence in Houston. Such a system would be suitable where dis-tance from shore?20 miles or more?is too great for shore-based electrical cables; and where the depths?300 feet and more?make the cost of offshore platforms excessive. Russell N. Edwards and Joseph E. Zupanick of GE's Re-entry Systems organization pre-sented the concept. Their design grew out of a cost study of all possible underwater power sources. The study also showed that a nuclear power supply becomes economical when the needed energy exceeds 500,000,000 kilowatt hours which would be required only for larger oil production operations. Major parts of the power system are: a buoy containing the aircraft gas turbine engine and six aircraft alternators, a cable-conduit moor-ing line, and a sea terminal on the bottom. The gas turbine, which requires only "minor conversion" for marine use has a nominal rat-ing of 3,000 hp and operates on natural gas from an operating oil or gas well or from sub-merged fuel cache. The six alternators each have a nominal rating of 300 kw and are driven through a high-speed gear reduction unit. The power system described is designed to deliver 2,000 kva, 1,500 kw to a 400 Herz three-phase load at the bottom. The attended life of this power train "proved in aircraft use" would be more than five years. All of the power train and auxiliary equip-ment is installed in a spar buoy with a dis-placement of about 5 tons. The buoy is pat-terned after GE's developmental "Sea Robin" buoy system which has survived near hurri-cane conditions. It is only 32 feet long, with a maximum diameter of 8y2 feet. A damper at the submerged end provides stabilization. The cable-conduit mooring system has the triple function of holding the buoy in place, supplying fuel from the bottom to the turbine, and carrying the electrical power from the al-ternators to the sea terminal. The sea terminal consists of a cylindrical housing which contains equipment for power conditioning, turbine-fuel conditioning, pump-ing, instrumentation, controls, cooling and anchoring equipment. Also included is life sup-port equipment to aid in periodic servicing by divers. The authors said that a great deal of atten-tion was given to the design of a filter system to remove salt from the turbine's inlet air. Inlet air is drawn from a pipe about 40 feet above the surface and always from the lee side, away from the wind. The air then passes through six inches of metal mesh which col-lects salt laden droplets; then through a cen-trifuge to spin crystals out; then through a resonant silencer and finally through a porous filter and to the turbine. M.A.N. Augsburg Works Announces Staff Changes M.A.N, has announced a reorganization of the diesel engine sales and design departments at its Augsburg (Germany) Works. These two departments have been combined into the Die-sel Engine Construction Division. Director Klaus Bredschneider, Dipl.-Ing., has been ap-pointed head of the division. Hans-Harald Deneke has been named head of the Diesel Engine Sales Department, suc-ceeding Hans Robkopf who retired after 40 years of service with the company. In another move. Director Otto Voisard, formerly head of M.A.N.'s technical office in Hamburg, has been appointed managing direc-tor of M.A.N. Turbo GmbH, Munich. RECRUITING SPECIALISTS SHIPBUILDING - CONVERSION - REPAIR NAVAL ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS for your free job opportunities bulletin without any obligation write: Personnel Search Associates, Inc. Lewis Tower Building Phila., Penna. 19102 215-KI 5-3000 Harry A. Mulholland John J. McKenna Design Draftsmen ? Electrical ? Mechanical ? Structural ? Piping ? Arrangements Design drafting experience in any one of the Marine systems listed. Immediate openings in Southeast. Excellent rates. Reporting travel allowance. Fringe benefits. Rush resume & call collect. a.c. 305 645-2100 COMPREHENSIVE DESIGNERS, INC. Suite 151, 5400 Diplomat Circle Orlando, Florida 32810 An equal opportunity employer SHIPYARD MANAGER Small East Coast Ship Repair Yard with 500 Ton Railway. General Ship Repair Background Essen-tial. Welding, Ship Fitting, Carpenter, Machine, Sand Blasting, and Propeller Repair Knowledge Required. Right Man with Management Capa-bilities, Ability to Estimate, Purchasing, Personnel, Organize Operations, and Make Decisions. Can Head Company with Profit Sharing and Other Benefits. Rush Complete Resume and Work His-tory in Confidence to: Box 517 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News 107 E. 31st Street New York, N.Y. 10016 An equal opportunity employer YOUNG MAN?20 yrs. Purchasing experience, last five Buyer Marine, presently employed NYC, desires relocate New Jersey. Salary requirement, $1 1,000.00. Reply: Box 615 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News 107 E. 31st Street New York, New York 10016 STRUCTURAL OR MECHANICAL DRAFTSMEN with a minimum of 3 years experience?call or write DIAMOND MANUFACTURING CO. Savannah, Georgia P.O. Box 727 Phone 912-236-2451 "NAVAL ARCHITECT: Excellent oppor-tunity with Los Angeles Company en-gaged in design and construction of off-shore marine (tanker) terminal facilities. New and challenging position for re-sourceful and imaginative engineer. Mail resume to: IMODCO U.S.A., 10889 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90024 or phone (213) 478-7704." "MARINE BACKGROUND?Excellent opportunity for young man with Los Angeles based company engaged in design and construction of offshore marine terminal facilities for tankers. Education and experience, plus ability to absorb and handle detailed analytical work in Los Angeles is essen-tial. Periodic foreign travel to be expected. Mail resume to: IMODCO U.S.A., 10889 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90024 or phone (213) 478-7704." FOR SALE 2 Heavy duty Lufkin Marine reduction gears. SIZE LM 1815, RATIO 3.06 to 1, INPUT RPM 900, RE-MOVED FROM 750 HP TUG 1969 in good condition. CALUMET MARINE TOWING Box 216 South Chicago Station Chicago, Illinois 60617 312/721/1180 FOR SALE OR CHARTER One deck barge, steel construction, 220' x 45' x 11', 8" wood protective decking, removable 4Vi' bin sides, ex-cellent condition. NOLAN BROS., Incorporated 800 Builders Exchange Minneapolis, Minn. 55402 FOR SALE OR TERM CHARTER 150' American Flag Ocean Tug (Ex Army LT) Rebuilt & Repowered?1965 USCG & ABS Certificates Ready for Crew & Food 2150 HP Nordberg Diesel 2 Drum Towing Machine 2?2" Steel Towing Cable 573 gross 389 net tonnage Available Immediately Jacksonville, Fla. Tele. 904-355-4543 P.O. Box 4908 TWX. 904-733-1320 70 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News