OTEC current study. Final report

Abstract

Under a contract with the Applied Physics Laboratory of John Hopkins University, the firm Deep Oil Technology, Inc. planned and carried out a verification test on a model OTEC Cold Water Pipe to investigate the potential effect of some environmental forces in a true ocean environment. The dimensions of the model CWP were 5 feet in diameter and 800 feet long; the pipe was made up of 20-foot lengths of 3/16-inch steel pipe with flanges at either end that were bolted together to form the total test length. This model CWP was suspended from the Deep Oil X-1 which was moored in 1000 feet of water about two miles south of Santa Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean during December 1978. The Ocean Engineering and Construction Project Office of the Chesapeake Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command was tasked in October 1978 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide current data in conjunction with this OTEC Cold Water Pipe experiment off the seaward side of Santa Catalina Island. The current meter system comprises eight Aanderaa current meters, 100 feet apart, suspended from a 40 inch diameter subsurface buoy and anchored to the bottom. The Aanderaa, RCM-5 Current Meter is a self-contained instrument for recording speed, direction, and temperature of ocean currents; operation is based upon a rotor-type current velocity sensor, a magnetic compass for direction determination, and a thermistor for temperature sensing. Installation and inspection of the current meters are described, and recorded data are presented and discussed. (WHK)