Bureau Of Standards

  • The U.S. Government is assisting an industry-sponsored program to study and test models of ocean platforms shaped like giant concrete bubbles, each capable of holding enough fuel for 500,000 cars on a crosscountry trip.

    These unique vessels, called Tuned Spheres, will be located 15 to 40 miles off the U.S.

    coastline to serve as deepwater terminals for the biggest supertankers afloat. At present, no U.S. port can accommodate these supertankers.

    This means that imported crude oil now must be unloaded from supertankers in deepwater Caribbean and Canadian ports, and then transshipped to the United States, using small tankers. Transshipping is said to cost gasoline and heating oil users in this country an additional $1 billion annually, which contributes to unfavorable U.S. balance of trade.

    For this key reason, Tuned Sphere International, Inc., One Pine Street, Nashua, N.H., was awarded a grant by the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) to test the feasibility of Tuned Spheres in the role of offshore terminal facilities. Tuned Sphere International, headquartered in Nashua, N.H., is a subsidiary of Energy Systems Corporation, the parent organization that employs recondite technology to create advanced products for industry and people.

    Federal grants totaling more than $200,000 will be used to demonstrate Tuned Sphere stability under the roughest sea conditions.

    Model-test monies also complement contracts received in the past six months from ERDA and Lockheed Missiles and Space Company to investigate feasibility of the Tuned Sphere as the platform for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion powerplants under development by ERDA. These powerplants will convert temperature differences in ocean currents into electric power, or will manufacture at sea, useful products such as anhydrous ammonia fertilizers.

    Interest in Tuned Spheres, according to Kenneth E. Mayo, president of Energy Systems, is being spurred by a highly favorable National Bureau of Standards technical review completed last May.

    George P. Lewett, a National Bureau of Standards (NBS) official, finds Tuned Spheres "technically valid and worthy of consideration for appropriate government support." Tuned Spheres, reports NBS, "offer improved stability over the full range of weather conditions encountered on open oceans for unloading, storing, and pumping petroleum; for oil-well drilling, and as a platform for ocean-based wind, geothermal, or other powerplants." The National Bureau of Standards report notes that the Tuned Sphere's unusual shape "provides greater strength and distributes forces due to wave action." Stability of the sphere in heavy seas is made possible, the report adds, "by locating the center of mass well below the center of buoyancy. This may be changed by pumping water ballast from one tank to another." "Symmetry of Tuned Spheres eliminates pitch . . . and yaw." Neither does the oversized ball heave much in the water. "This is reduced," the report says, "by means of a large quiescent pool of water located inside the sphere. This pool is open at the bottom so that its level is adjusted automatically to average wave heights." With the forces of natural hazards and waves effectively countered, Tuned Spheres are expected to give stability over the full range of open ocean conditions, superior to that of any other vessel design.

    Designed as bulk petroleum terminals, Tuned Spheres will have a 380-foot diameter to permit storage capacity of four million barrels of crude. Stored crude oil is pumped to shore via at-sea terminus of a subsea crude pipeline. Receiving facilities may be located as much as 25 miles inland.

    In sum, the National Bureau of Standards says Tuned Spheres will (1) improve safety of vessels, hence personnel, (2) reduce transportation cost of oil, (3) reduce danger of oil spills, and (4) improve productivity during bad weather and sea condition.

    The report also concludes that Tuned Spheres may assist relief of the nation's energy problems, because they "enhance production in offshore drilling . . . and as offshore terminals for receiving imported crude oil and petroleum products at a decrease in import costs." Charles R. Fink, vice president for operations of Tuned Sphere International, notes that "The potential $l-billion transportation cost savings to derive from Tuned Sphere deepwater terminals more than offset the cost increase which will result if legislation to require import of up to 10 percent of foreign crude in U.S.-flag vessels is passed by the Congress."

  • d m i n i s t r a t i o n ; Gerald Chapman and Donald Oberacker of the Environmental Protection Agency; Rosalie Matthews of the National Bureau of Standards, and Fritz Wybenga of the Coast Guard. John Nachtsheim, president of the Society, delivered an introductory statement for the panel of

  • , N.Y., facility on a Marine Pax tester, designed and built by Bailey. The test included capacity verification, using National Bureau of Standards certified thermometers and flow meters, and sound level monitoring, with NBS-certified sound level metering. The Marine Pax tester was

  • Ship Program was prepared by a group established in February this year. In addition to MarAd and EPA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Bureau of Standards participated. A 1978 study indicated that at-sea incineration would be less than half as costly as land-based incineration. EPA and

  • waters at 1-500 parts per billion concentration levels. Known as the Chlortect chlorine monitor, their instrument was developed at the National Bureau of Standards and is the result of an increasing need to monitor chlorine residuals, on site, with high sensitivity and reliability. The technology

  • commodities could bear while returning a profit to the U.S.-flag carriers. In a related study for the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Bureau of Standards, Manalytics is examining the domestic perishables logistics system. "At this time, there is no definitive information on the potential de

  • and temperature is necessary in order to calculate and invoice the quantities of LNG delivered. Experimental investigations at the National Bureau of Standards have resulted in systems with error quotients of less than 0.1 percent. The equipment needed, as well as the data collected and the experimental

  • . This committee is comprised of representatives from the Naval Sea Systems Command together with representatives from Navy laboratories, National Bureau of Standards, the Office of Naval Research, and the Naval Academy. SEAHAC is responsible for making specific recommendations regarding the technical

  • and safety standards of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Maritime Administration, and the National Bureau of Standards, among others, and are the first of their kind to meet the criteria of the American Bureau of Shipping. The Apollo One can safely

  • 2A—Liquefied Gas Workshop. 1. "LNG Thermophysical Properties Data and Custody Transfer," D.E. Diller, Institute for Basic Standards, National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colo. 2. "An LNG Cargo System Simulator for Crew Training," R.L. Blanchard, Arthur E. Sherburn, John L. Middleton, Foxboro/ Tra

  • and safety standards of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Maritime Administration, and the National Bureau of Standards, among others, and are the first of their kind to meet the criteria of the American Bureau of Shipping. The Apollo One can safely destroy up

  • MR Oct-17#75 , Locking & Braking todesk and Bureau Veritas. (TLB) System)
    October 2017 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 75

    Damen Ship- Twi? ex yards Group, Rotterdam Additive Manu- facturing LAB (RAMLAB), Promarin, Au- The Twi? ex Turning, Locking & Braking todesk and Bureau Veritas. (TLB) System consolidates three usu- The 1,350mm diameter propeller – ally separate interfaces and functions named WAAMpeller – was fabricated

  • MR Jun-15-77#4th Cover at the Na- tional Bureau of Standards have resulted)
    June 15, 1977 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 4th Cover

    temperature is necessary in order to calculate and invoice the quan- tities of LNG delivered. Experi- mental investigations at the Na- tional Bureau of Standards have resulted in systems with error quotients of less than 0.1 percent. The equipment needed, as well as the data collected and the

  • MR Dec-77#27 the National Bureau of Standards, Office of Naval)
    December 1977 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 27

    engineer- ing officer and was a technical representative with National Lead Company for corrosion control projects involving the National Bureau of Standards, Office of Naval Research, and various state highway specification de- partments. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard First Assistant Marine

  • MR Nov-15-81#15 of the National Bureau of Standards, and Fritz Wybenga)
    November 15, 1981 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 15

    the Mari- time Administration; Gerald Chapman and Donald Oberacker of the Environmental Protection Agency; Rosalie Matthews of the National Bureau of Standards, and Fritz Wybenga of the Coast Guard. John Nachtsheim, president of the Society, delivered an intro- ductory statement for the panel

  • MR Jun-15-00#29 products. Built according to Bureau Veritas standards, the)
    June 15, 2000 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 29

    units of these containers, which can hold up to 70 tons of paper for the combined rail and sea transportation of their products. Built according to Bureau Veritas standards, the Dutch-flagged vessel's propulsion is provided by a long-stroke cross-head Wartsila diesel engine with an output of 10

  • MR Apr-15-73#26 by the Na- tional Bureau of Standards, if at all possible)
    April 15, 1973 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 26

    value (HHV) of the fuel. For this reason, this value used in calculating the official fuel rate should be determined by the Na- tional Bureau of Standards, if at all possible. Unfortunately, the quality service provided by NBS is limited to other Government agencies and is presently available

  • MR Apr-72#42 of the National Bureau of Standards, the Maritime)
    April 1972 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 42

    Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Technical and Re- search Program established the test- ing program with the cooperation of the National Bureau of Standards, the Maritime College of the State L'niversity of New York and nu- merous industrial organizations, which led to the preparation of the

  • MP Q1-12#10 seamen, the Þ rst Bureau of Standards by standardizing)
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    by assisting the nation?s war veterans, the Þ rst Public Health Service by providing for the well-being of merchant seamen, the Þ rst Bureau of Standards by standardizing the nations weights and measures, the Þ rst Immigration and Naturalization Service responding to immigrants seeking refuge

  • MR Dec-84#14 , and the National Bureau of Standards, among others)
    December 1984 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 14

    and safety standards of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, the Maritime Administration, and the National Bureau of Standards, among others, and are the first of their kind to meet the criteria of the American Bureau of Shipping. The Apollo One can safely de- stroy