Applied Technologies
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- Creating Superior Buoyancy with Air Marine Technology, May 2017 #18
Many people may think of empty space or air as nothingness – space that’s perhaps waiting to be filled with something useful – but scientists and engineers know that the voids are intrinsically valuable. They can fortify structures to make them stronger without burdening them with weight. The ability to manipulate that nothingness brings new opportunities to many fields, especially in deep sea exploration. Through the use of high–tech hollow glass microspheres (HGMS), the issue of weight for deep sea exploration vehicles can be overcome. By combining glass and air, manufacturers can incorporate high performance microspheres into a wide range of polymer and resin systems to create composite solutions such as subsea foam buoyancy, which meet demanding strength and weight specifications.
Hollow Glass MicrospheresHGMS may appear to the naked eye to resemble a fine, white, free-flowing powder. However, under magnification the near perfect spherical shape of these glass bubbles is revealed. Typically they are used as alternatives to conventional fillers and additives such as silica, calcium carbonate, talc, and clay.The key properties of low density HGMS are their light weight and strength. Incorporating them into buoyancy products allows remotely operated vehicle (ROV) manufacturers to dramatically reduce the density and weight of a vehicle’s buoyancy, while improving its dimensional stability and impact strength. HGMS have the potential to half or quarter the weight of buoyancy and with a proportionally higher volume compared to a solid filler, they can significantly reduce the weight of buoyancy without compromising its physical strength and integrity.Customization for Buoyancy ApplicationsThin walled, hollow glass microspheres can be customized via surface treatments, material chemistry selection, density specifications or particle size distribution, thereby being tailored to meet demanding strength, weight and electrical specifications for customers in a variety of markets. For buoyancy applications, HGMS can be incorporated into a wide range of polymer and resin systems and replaced or combined with other materials to create composites, many of which are used in demanding offshore environments.The unique properties of HGMS can be modified to enhance specific properties of the buoyancy package a customer is looking for to achieve, for example, high strength to weight ratios, specific uplift targets or high temperature resistance. In addition, manufacturing syntactic foams with customized HGMS allows the surface chemistry of the microspheres to be enhanced. This has proven to show the benefit of improved adhesion properties within the matrix, adding performance value to the composite system by simultaneously increasing the composite’s moisture resistance and strength.With this in mind, most buoyancy manufacturers will offer several grades of buoyancy for deep sea exploration vehicles, which can be further customized to meet the specific needs of the customer.Buoyancy TestingWhen choosing a supplier for buoyancy for remotely operated vehicles, manufactures should look for a company that not only manufactures hollow glass microspheres but can also carry out testing of density, strength, moisture content and more, before the HGMS are incorporated into composite buoyancy systems. Following this, the finished buoyancy package should then go through its own testing to ensure the final product meets the density, weight and strength parameters for the project.Typical buoyancy tests that should be performed on the final package include:- Hydrostatic testing of full cubic feet buoyancy blocks,
- Cycle testing for 1,000 times,
- Full testing to hydrostatic pressure on random samples,
- 10 percent of manufactured blocks tested at service pressure for 24 hours.
Case StudyTrelleborg’s applied technologies operation recently engineered and manufactured a custom syntactic foam buoyancy package for the Schmidt Ocean Institute for use on its new ROV, SuBastian.The Schmidt Ocean Institute underwater robotic research program includes the design and development of a 4,500 meter robotic vehicle for use on research vessel Falkor. The ROV is outfitted with a suite of sensors and scientific equipment to support data and sample collection, as well as interactive research, experimentation, and technology development. The buoyancy package on SuBastian is made from Trelleborg’s Eccofloat TG30, a high performance syntactic foam.Bob Kelly, Managing Director within Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation, said, “We are very proud to be part of this pioneering adventure and to work with Schmidt on developing a syntactic foam that met their requirements. One of the challenges with deep water syntactic foam is producing the lightest possible foam for a given depth which translates into maximum uplift or buoyancy for the vehicle. A high strength to weight ratio means our customers get the industry’s maximum uplift or buoyancy per cubic foot, allowing them to design their vehicle with a lower volume buoyancy package, reducing costs and improving vehicle performance and handling.“We were able to create the precise buoyancy package needed for SuBastian, ensuring success for the future commercialization of this project. The unique customizable design coupled with the selection of Trelleborg’s proven Eccofloat material will provide many years of service with the flexibility to adapt to all future equipment and mission requirements.”The SuBastain ROV is designed to go to depths of 4,500 meters, which is deeper than the average ocean depth of 3,700 meters. Trelleborg’s Eccofloat TG30 is designed for a service depth of 5,000 meters. The ROV will be suitable to support high resolution seafloor mapping, photomosaicing, video and image gathering, and collections of rocks, animals and seawater samples. It is equipped with a versatile array of power and data interfaces to enable integration of a wide range of add-on deep sea instruments and samplers that oceanographers may need to support their deep sea research.SuBastian recently completed its first expedition on newly discovered hydrothermal vent sites, possibly finding new species in the Mariana Back-Arc, an extreme deep-ocean environment. This is the first series of scientific dives for the ROV. Equipped with numerous cameras, including a high-definition 4K video camera, the dives were live streamed onto YouTube and watched by millions. The multidisciplinary team will continue to analyze the data and samples collected during this expedition to advance research on how life thrives on these extreme deep-sea hydrothermal vents. This research was supported by the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research Program, the NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Schmidt Ocean Institute.ConclusionMicrospheres are intrinsically valuable voids because they can fortify structures to make them stronger without burdening them with extra weight.Through customization and testing of high–tech hollow glass microspheres, deep sea exploration vehicle manufacturers are able to meet their strength and weight specifications for each unique vehicle.The ability to manipulate, customize and test buoyancy foams manufactured with enhanced HGMS for deep sea exploration vehicles is a critical part that must not be overlooked when specifying buoyancy packages for these vehicles. As such, vehicle manufacturers should look to work with suppliers that can manufacture and test these small, but essential, microspheres for use in their buoyancy.(As published in the May 2017 edition of Marine Technology Reporter)
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 48Index page MTR MarApr2024:MTR Layouts 4/4/2024 3:19 PM Page 1 Advertiser Index PageCompany Website Phone# 17 . . . . .Airmar Technology Corporation . . . . . . . . . .www.airmar.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(603) 673-9570 9 . . . . . .Birns, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 47PRODUCT, PROFESSIONAL, VESSELS, MTR BARGES & REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Marketplace INNOVATIVE. UNIQUE. PROVEN. ALLAMERICANMARINE.com ???????????????????????????????????????? 9??????????SiC A????????ArC????????????????S???????C?????????9???Ç????????? ????????????????Ý???????S???y???????????????????K???:???? MAR
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 45ronments. The new agreement will address speci? c techni- cal gaps in the UUV defense and offshore energy markets especially for long duration, multi-payload mission opera- tions where communications are often denied or restricted. As part of the new alliance, Metron’s Resilient Mission Autonomy portfolio
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 43Image courtesy Kongsberg Discovery Image courtesy Teledyne Marine New Products Teledyne Marine had its traditional mega-booth at Oi, busy start to ? nish. Image courtesy Greg Trauthwein offers quality sub-bottom pro? ling capability without the need tion of offshore windfarms. GeoPulse 2 introduces new
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 41Image courtesy Outland Technology Image courtesy Exail Image courtesy Submaris and EvoLogics Vehicles The ROV-1500 from Outland Technology represents a leap forward in underwater robotics, a compact remotely operated vehicle (ROV) weighing in at less than 40 lbs (19kg) the ROV- 1500 is easy to transport
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 40NEW TECH OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 All photos courtesy MTR unless otherwise noted NEW TECH, PARTNERSHIPS LAUNCH IN LONDON With Oceanology International now one month in the rear-view mirror, MTR takes a look at some of the interesting technologies launched before, during and after the London event.
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 33regulated industry in the world.” How- ever, commercial success depends on many factors, not least a predictable OPEX. Over the past four years, SMD has worked with Oil States Industries to calculate cost per tonne ? gures for prospective customers. Patania II uses jet water pumps to Oil States’
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 32FEATURE SEABED MINING by a sea? oor plume from its pilot collection system test. pact, nodule collection system that utilizes mechanical and The Metals Company recently signed a binding MoU with hydraulic technology. Paci? c Metals Corporation of Japan for a feasibility study on The company’s SMD
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 30FEATURE SEABED MINING bilical. It has passive heave compensation which nulli? es the necott. “The focus since then has been on scaling while en- wave, current and vessel motions that in? uence loads in the suring the lightest environmental impact,” says The Metals power umbilical. The LARS can
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 29n January, Norway said “yes” to sea- bed mining, adding its weight to the momentum that is likely to override the calls for a moratorium by over 20 countries and companies such as I Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung. Those against mining aim to protect the unique and largely unknown ecology of the sea?
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 27SEA-KIT USV Maxlimer returning from HT-HH caldera in Tonga. © SEA-KIT International data and further assess ecosystem recov- ery. What is known, noted Caplan-Auer- bach, is that the impact of submarine vol- canoes on humans is rare. “The HT-HH eruption was a tragedy, but it was very unusual. It let us
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 26FEATURE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTATION & SENSORS Kevin Mackay, TESMaP voyage leader and Center head of the South and West Paci? c Regional Centre of Seabed 2030. Kevin in the seismic lab at Greta Point looking at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano 3D map completed with data from the TESMaP voyage
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 25Auerbach explained that ideally, “one ? ed layers of geothermal activity,” noted changes over an area of 8,000 km2. They would have both instruments: seismom- Skett, “and the change in salinity and dis- found up to seven km3 of displaced ma- eters to detect and locate subsurface ac- solved particles for
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 23and their seabed surroundings. “Seismology and acoustics are both the study of what we call elastic waves, in which materials vibrate when force is applied to them,” explained Caplan-Auerbach. Seismology studies waves as they move through solid Earth, while acoustics examines those waves in ? uids
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 202024 Editorial Calendar January/Februay 2024 February 2024 March/April 2024 Ad close Jan.31 Ad close March 21 Ad close Feb. 4 Underwater Vehicle Annual Offshore Energy Digital Edition ?2?VKRUH:LQG$)ORDWLQJ)XWXUH ?2FHDQRJUDSKLF?QVWUXPHQWDWLRQ 6HQVRUV ?6XEVHD'HIHQVH ?6XEVHD'HIHQVH7KH+XQWIRU ?0DQLS
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 19About the Author vey with the pipe tracker is not required, resulting in signi? - Svenn Magen Wigen is a Cathodic Protection and corrosion control cant cost savings, mainly related to vessel charter. expert having worked across The major advantage of using FiGS on any type of subsea engineering, design
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 18TECH FEATURE IMR There are also weaknesses in terms of accuracy because of FiGS Operations and Bene? ts signal noise and the ability to detect small ? eld gradients. In Conventional approaches to evaluating cathodic protection this process there is a risk that possible issues like coating (CP)
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 17• Integrity assessment, and otherwise covered, e.g., by rock dump. As for depletion of • Mitigation, intervention and repair. sacri? cial anodes, this can be dif? cult or even impossible to Selecting the best method for collecting the data these work- estimate due to poor visibility, the presence of
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 16TECH FEATURE IMR Image courtesy FORCE Technology OPTIMIZING CATHODIC PROTECTION SURVEY USING NON-CONTACT SENSORS By Svenn Magen Wigen, FORCE Technology he principle behind sacri? cial anodes, which are water structures, reducing the need for frequent repairs and used to safeguard underwater pipelines
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 15sensor options for longer mission periods. About the Author For glider users working in ? sheries and conservation, Shea Quinn is the Product Line Manager the Sentinel can run several high-energy passive and active of the Slocum Glider at Teledyne Webb acoustic sensors, on-board processing, and imaging
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 13nyone familiar with glider hardware options integrated for a broad Glider answers that need,” said Shea autonomous underwater ve- range of missions. Quinn, Slocum Glider Product Line hicles (AUVs) is certainly “As the use of Slocum Gliders grew, Manager at TWR. A familiar with the popular- so did
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 11assist in identifying mines and act as a neutralization device. About the Author Bottom mines pose even greater chal- David R. Strachan is a defense analyst and founder of lenges. Unlike contact mines, bottom Strikepod Systems, a research and strategic advisory mines utilize a range of sensors to
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 9from marinas along the western coast. The exact number of lizing laser detection systems can detect mines just below the mines, as well as their locations, remains largely a mystery, surface, even those hiding in murky water. The Airborne Laser although reports suggest that over three hundred have been
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 4Editorial NIWA-Nippon Foundation TESMaP/ Rebekah Parsons-King www.marinetechnologynews.com ast month marked the resounding NEW YORK 118 E. 25th St., New York, NY 10010 return of Oceanology Interna- Tel: (212) 477-6700; Fax: (212) 254-6271 tional in London, perennially one Lof the world’s most important