Page 85: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2017)

Norway Launches Microsatellites

Schottel’s Underwater

The Space Flight

Laboratory (SFL) an- nounced the launch of two Norwegian mic-

Mountable Thruster rosatellites developed and built by SFL for the Norwegian Space

Front Back

Center with support from the Norwegian Coastal Authority (NCA), Space

Norway and the European Space Agency. The ? rst satellite, dubbed NORsat-1, carries an Automatic

Identi? cation System (AIS) receiver to acquire mes- sages from maritime vessels, a set of Langmuir probes to study space plasma characteristics, and a

Compact Lightweight Absolute Radiometer (CLARA) to measure total solar irradiation and variations over time. The payloads were provided by Kongsberg

Seatex, the University of Oslo and the Physikalisch-

Schottel

Meterologisches Observatorium Davos World Ra-

Schottel expanded its portfolio with the success- propeller gearbox and the water. Multiple special diation Center. The will serve the NCAin monitoring ful tests of the 5.5 MW SRP 800 U rudderpropeller, seals on the propeller shaft and the connecting shaft maritime traf? c while also performing science. which can be installed a? oat for vessels that cannot separate lubricants from the seawater. be docked easily due to their size or area of operation. According to Schottel, the SRP 800 U has been op-

Cobham Antennas in EpicNG Tests

Besides application in larger offshore vessels or rigs, timized with a focus on maximum market coverage in

Cobham SATCOM’s SAILOR and Sea Tel antennas the Schottel thruster is suited for cable laying vessels, terms of ? t variability. The design of the interface to have been used by maritime offshore construction vessels and crane ships. the vessel corresponds to that of models commonly

VSAT service provider Mar- “As a result of customer requests, Schottel decided available on the market and is thus ideal both for new link to test the upper limits of to further develop the robust, well-proven rudderpro- installation and as a replacement unit. Using a three- throughput on the new Intelsat peller technology in the power range up to 5.5 MW,” way roller bearing as the slewing ring, it was possible 33e (IS-33e) satellite. The test- said Roland Schwandt, Schottel Sales Director Tug & to reduce the required installation space and increase ing at Marlink’s Eik teleport

Offshore Energy. the compactness of the drive. Furthermore, the num- included Cobham SATCOM’s

Schottel said calculations for increasing the power ber and size of the protective caps was minimized for

Sea Tel 9711 IMA, Sea Tel

Cobham SATCOM SFL went hand in hand with developments for greater in- underwater installation. 6012 VSAT and SAILOR 900 stallation ? exibility and higher safety factors that ex- Two stem variants open up a broad application spec-

VSAT High Power systems, all of which demonstrated high throughput capabilities.

ceed the strict requirements of the classi? cation so- trum. In addition to the standard version with a 90°

IS-33e is the third of seven new High Throughput ciety. This includes, for example, the full load gear gearbox, Schottel also offers a variant with a propeller

Satellites (HTS) that power Intelsat’s next genera- test for checking the gearing of the bevel gear set that shaft inclined by 8 degrees. This reduces detrimental tion EpicNG network an exciting new platform for has now been carried out in the German test facilities effects on the thrust of adjacent drives and interaction very high-speed maritime broadband. The purpose successfully. with the hull. In terms of ? ow characteristics, the azi- of Marlink’s IS-33e testing was to verify throughput

The full load gear test was preceded by model tests muthing SRP 800 U thus adapts itself optimally to its for diverse maritime antennas from major manu- at Potsdam Shipbuilding Research Establishment area of operation, be it as a main propulsion unit in a facturers on the latest EpicNG satellite, which is lo- (SVA Potsdam), Germany and CFD simulations. The drill ship or construction vessel, or as a positioning aid cated at 60° East, providing seamless spot beam thruster sets superlative standards in real dimensions. in a semi-submersible rig. The optimal ? ow contour coverage between Asia and Europe.

Tests were carried out with a rated torque of 80,000 was the result of CFD calculations as well as cavita- www.cobham.com

Nm at the power input of the underwater gearbox. tion and maneuvering trials at the SVA www.schottel.de

This corresponds to continuous heavy-duty operation on the open sea using a propeller with a diameter of 4,100 mm. Two large hydraulic motors with work- ing pressures of up to 300 bar provided the drive and braking power.

The results of the evaluation show that the position and extent of the contact pattern exactly match the simulation, the manufacturer said. In the contact pat- tern, it can be proven that even with the high operat- ing loads and the resulting displacements of the teeth, the torque is always transmitted ideally from tooth to tooth.

With a view to safety, Schottel said customers bene- ? t not only from the rolling-contact bearings, but also from the double-checked seals with a longer service life than required by the classi? cation society. The certi? ed LEACON propeller shaft seal was success- fully tested. The endurance test under real operating conditions simulated water pressure and temperature ? uctuations, for example. The key design feature of the system is an intermediate chamber between the www.marinelink.com 85

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