Long Beach-Los Angeles ASNE Elects New Officers

The Long Beach-Greater Los Angeles Section of The American Society of Naval Engineers held a recent regular monthly meeting at the Officers Club of the Armed Forces Reserve Center, Los Alamitos, Calif. The meeting was the occasion of the installation of the new Section officers for the forthcoming year. Approximately 80 members and guests attended.

Following dinner, chairman Bob Malone welcomed all present and turned the meeting over to Carl Eriekson, program chairman, who introduced the evening's speaker, Clinton Sherburne, and his topic— "DAM-ATOLL: A Fuel Free Way To Make Power From Ocean Waves." Mr. Sherburne is the project manager for the DAMATOLL Project at the Lockheed Space and Missile Company in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The author explained that the concept was derived by its inventor recalling an obscure World War II report of the inability of the planners of an invasion to find a leeward side of an atoll to effect a landing. It made no difference which side was approached, there were always waves breaking on the beach.

From this observation it was deduced that the linear wave fronts were bending around the atoll thereby causing waves to land on the beaches at all points of the compass.

DAM-ATOLL derives its name from DAM—a barrier to control the flow of water, and ATOLL—a ring-shaped coral island and its associated reef. The DAM-ATOLL is a project investigating the conversion of ocean wave energy into electrical power. Unlike most other ocean wave energy systems that attempt to convert the wave motion into electrical energy using mechanical motion mechanisms, DAM-ATOLL converts the energy from the wave into electrical energy directly.

A hemisphere, approximately 100 meters in diameter (the ATOLL), focuses the wave energy into the center of the structure.

The hemisphere provides an artificial beach, causing the waves to break, and at the same time curving the linear wave front completely around the structure.

The top of the structure is set at a precise level with the surface of the water, causing the wave breakers to "crash" into vanes (the DAM) at the center of the ATOLL. The vanes convert the wave energy into a circular motion in a cylinder 30 feet in diameter and 60 feet high. This circular motion forms a large hydraulic flywheel, which turns a 10-15 rpm turbine located at the bottom of the cylinder. The turbine will be connected by shafting to a generator located above the water at the top of the DAM.

The development of the DAMATOLL is currently passing from the feasibility stage to the developmental stage and appears to hold great promise in an age of rising fuel prices and increasing energy demands. It is envisioned that DAM-ATOLLs can be located offshore any land mass where waves having a minimum height of 2-3 meters are prevalent.

Past chairman Phil Finkelstein was called on to conduct the installation of the newly elected officers to guide the Section through the next 12 months. They are: chairman, Capt. J.A. Gildea, USN; vice chairman, Capt. R.H. Randall, USN; secretary-treasurer, Gerald A. Bowles; and councilors Lt. Larry St. John, USN, Calvin Jolly, and Edwin J. Petersen.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 54, Apr 1981

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.