866 results about "Surface ocean" patented technology

A seismometer having a hydrodynamically efficient shaped body containing a seismic sensor or source, having a propulsion unit located and a control unit for directional control of the propulsion unit for guiding the seismometer to and from an ocean floor. The seismometer can be deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or airplane. The seismometer or surface support vessel contains a navigation unit for directing the control unit to a desired location on the ocean bottom. The apparatus provides a storage device for storing seismic data sensed by the seismic sensor. The navigation system sends a responsive directional command to the apparatus based on the current location and the desired location. Upon arrival at the desired ocean bottom location, the propulsion system acts to couple the apparatus to the ocean floor. A flight control system manages a plurality of the seismometers during navigation to and from the a ocean bottom.

A deepwater windpower plant (DWP) has a tension leg-type floating platform with an evacuable base for adjusting its buoyancy for installation at ocean depths ranging from 40 meters up to 1.5 kilometers and more. The DWP has a typical offshore wind turbine assembled close to shore which is then towed to a desired installation site on the ocean, and held in place by a gravity anchoring base (GAB), to which an evacuable portion or space of the DWP platform is anchored. The GAB has upwardly extending mooring tethers and a power cable which are brought to the ocean surface by attached buoys. The GAB is sunk to the ocean floor at the installation site under controlled conditions so that the GAB lands flat on the ocean floor. As the GAB sinks to the ocean floor, the mooring tethers and power cable are pulled to the surface by their respective buoys. The GAB is loaded with heavy ballast material that can be dropped from barges on the ocean surface into the upwardly open GAB below the barges.

Smooth, preferably variable-sweep fluid collection device surfaces disposed into opposition with wind, river, surf, ocean or tidal currents generate enhanced velocity fluid flows at length driven into onboard work-extracting disc turbines at advantageous angles of attack. Keyed to shafts turning freely through optionally extendable volutes, disc turbines comprising a dense population of smooth, axially fixed or adjustably spaced discs conducting preferably laminar flow between adjacent elements develop significant torque through boundary layer adhesion and viscous shear-stress between fluid layers. Exhaust of disc turbine throughput into divergent channels drafting into external currents of initially higher than ambient velocity and lower pressure may reduce turbine discharge backpressure, rapidly clear system throughput, and allow normally disadvantageous drag to be utilized to develop greater work generation. Gainfully turning with, instead of at odds to natural or anthropogenic currents provided, disc turbines utilized as disclosed may provide unprecedented renewable energy from fluids in motion.

Embodiments described herein relate to an apparatus and method for transferring one or more seismic sensor devices to or from a support vessel on or near a surface of a body of water and a subsurface marine location. In one embodiment, an apparatus for transferring seismic sensor devices is provided. The apparatus includes a frame structure having one or more rails disposed thereon, the one or more rails comprising an elevator mechanism and defining at least one exit path for one or more seismic sensor devices, and one or more motors coupled to the elevator mechanism.

A marine oil and gas exploration system used for measuring telluric currents as a natural electromagnetic energy source flowing beneath an ocean and sea floor. The marine exploration system includes a towed fish adapted for being pulled behind a survey ship. The coordinates of the ship and the towed fish can be controlled by a GPS satellite and time data. The fish includes an aerodynamic waterproof housing, somewhat reminiscent of a shape of a fish. Metal sheet electrodes of electric field sensors are mounted on the surface of a tubular nose extending outwardly from the housing. The electric field sensors are in direct contact with the sea water. Typically, the fish is towed approximately 100 feet above the sea floor. The positioning of the fish is maintained by the use of an acoustic “pinger” on the fish. The pinger transmits signals up a towed cable to the survey ship. The fish can also include a cesium magnetometer connected to the electric field sensors. The magnetometer provides for detecting low frequency magnetic components of the electromagnetic fields generated by the telluric currents flowing under the sea floor. A filtering of the magnetic component signals is used to provide a phase and amplitude references for the electric fields. The amplitudes of the electric field at each frequency are ratioed against the amplitudes of similarly filtered components of the magnetometer.

An ocean wave generator is disclosed. The ocean wave generator includes a buoy, floating on the surface of the ocean; a generator; a pulley mounted on the generator for turning the generator; an anchor cable having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the anchor cable is connected to the underside of the buoy and the second end is mounted to the pulley; and a power cable, in electrical communication with the generator.

In short, the Eolic Marine Electrical Generator "GEEM" is an extraordinary invention used for capturing the huge impulse force of water or wind, to generate mechanical energy and to transform the mechanical energy into electrical energy, clean and ecological, without consuming vital oxygen thanks to the invention of immense split, self-regulating panels, radially fixed in dihedral angle to a rotary central shaft, panels which capture by shock the inexhaustible energy of the wind, the waves or the ocean currents; or fixed on rotary or flying machines of high speed, with panels formed at the same time by oscillating vanes that at a certain time of a turn of 360° will face the natural energy as a single group or panel, capturing therefrom the impulse force and converting it into rotary movement through the central rotary shaft. Said vanes in other rotation, by oscillation, will divide the panel and will align themselves with the natural vector, permitting its free passage, eliminating the turning resistance of the panel against water or wind and generating a constant rotation movement, independent of the direction of water or wind, and then transforming said mechanical energy into electrical energy by existing conventional means. The invention will allow men to renew their resources and to obtain electrical energy from anywhere in the planet such as cities, countryside, deserts, forests, mountains, seas, floating cities or spaces such as the Arctic and the Antarctic, neither polluting the environment, nor depending on costly networks or non-renewable inputs. The invention will also generate electrical energy on fleets, land vehicles or airship without consuming non-renewable fuel or destroying oxygen. Moreover, this invention replaces the internal combustion engines by eolic electrical motors, changing the scenery of the modern world and recovering the ozone lost in the Antarctic. And this invention will also be used when men in future colonize planets, without rivers or seas but with plenty of wind, to generate electrical energy without polluting this new vital space of the human race.

A seismic streamer cleaning device includes a means for converting motion of water past a seismic streamer into movement of the device as the streamer is towed through the water. A cleaning element is cooperatively engaged with the device and an exterior surface of the streamer. In one embodiment, the cleaning element includes brush bristles.

An open-ocean fish-growing platform has a submersible cage structure for growing fish, an antenna for receiving positioning signals transmitted from an external source, a position-correction apparatus for calculating a position error signal from a target geostatic position, and an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system for generating electric power for thruster units to maintain the cage structure in the target geostatic position. The OTEC system inducts colder ocean water from a deeper ocean depth for driving its heat exchange cycle, and is also of hybrid type using a fuel-fired unit as a heat source. The cold water effluent from the OTEC system is directed into the cage for flushing wastes generated by the growing fish. The self-positioning, self-powered open-ocean platform enables unmanned, extended marine deployment in deeper ocean waters without the need for tethering or anchoring to the ocean floor.

A moored buoy floating at the ocean surface and anchored to the seafloor precisely measures acceleration, pitch, roll, and Earth's magnetic flux field of the buoy over a limited sampling period. The system includes: 1) A buoy, 2) A mooring system, 3) An electronic data logger controlling communications between the system and the on-board remote telecommunications system, 4) an embedded computer for data input/output, temporary or permanent data storage, and algorithms to convert the measured time series data into surface ocean wave spectra and quality assurance statistics and encode the results for transfer to the data logger, 5) Sensors include one or three acceleration sensors, three orthogonal angular rate sensors, and three orthogonal magnetometers to measure the Earth's magnetic flux field, 6) A telecommunications system that links the buoy data logger and a shoreside processing system, and 7) A shoreside processing system that decodes the transmitted data, performs, quality control, and computes derived wave parameters.

A device and method for producing rotational mechanical power is disclosed which has a plurality of hinged blades attached to a central circular hub. The device may be used to convert the kinetic energy from the movement of the wind, ocean or river currents, or tidal flows into useful rotational mechanical power. The rotational mechanical power may be converted into electrical energy. Each of the plurality of blades are attached to the central circular hub via a hinge. Each blade is also fitted with a blade limiter to restrict its motion to no more than 90° relative range from the tangent line to the central hub at the point where the blade attaches to the hub. The hinges and blade limiters allow the blades to both present a surface automatically to the motive natural fluid and to generate the maximum torque in one side and minimum resistance torque positions in the opposite side relative to the motion of the motive stream. The resultant blades relative position creates a torque differential from one side of the central hub to the other causing the hub to rotate. The central hub will rotate in the same direction regardless of the direction of flow of the natural motive stream.

The anti-fouling ship paint with low biological surface energy consists of low surface energy resin, biological extract micro capsule, nanometer titania, microporous silica and solvent. The present invention has biological extracts chitin, capsaicin as anti-fouling agent through micro capsule slow releasing treatment and nanometer modified low surface energy paint and multiple anti-fouling performances. The present invention has the advantages of self-cleaning performance, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, weather resistance, etc and is used for ship as well as bridge, marine engineering member, etc.

A pressure wavefield and a normal velocity wavefield measured on a smoothly shaped acquisition surface by towed dual-sensor marine seismic streamers are decomposed into up-going and down-going pressure and particle velocity components on an observation level between the acquisition surface and a sea surface of undetermined shape. The up-going and down-going pressure and particle velocity components are extrapolated iteratively in steps from the observation level toward the sea surface. An image point and a reflection coefficient of the sea surface at the image point are determined from the iteratively extrapolated up-going and down-going pressure and particle velocity components.

A wave energy transducer is provided for converting the kinetic energy of waves moving in a body of water, such as waves in the ocean, to usable power. The wave energy transducer of the invention employs a pair of upright posts anchored to the floor of the ocean in a region subject to heavy wave activity. The posts are aligned perpendicular to the predominant direction of wave action. Mounting arms are hinged to the posts and extend in pairs toward shore and away from shore. Each of the pairs of mounting arms carries a paddlewheel, and the ends of the mounting arms are supported by floats. The floats hold the paddlewheels with their axes of rotation continually above the surface of the water and with their downwardly extending paddlewheel blades dipping into the water. Unidirectional drive mechanisms on each end of the paddlewheel axle are coupled to corresponding drive lines that in turn are connected to a power transducer, such as an electrical generator. Power is thereby extracted both from waves moving toward shore and from waves receding away from shore.

An offshore floating platform having at least one buoyant column with an upper end extending above a sea surface, a lower end submerged below the sea surface, and at least one keel tank disposed at the lower end. A deck is supported at the upper end the column. An ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system is integrated with the platform in which heat is extracted from warm sea surface waters to vaporize a liquid working fluid and heat is rejected to cold water from lower depths of the sea to condense the vaporized working fluid. At least one turbine and power generator is disposed on the deck, at least one evaporator is disposed on the platform beneath the deck, and at least one condenser is disposed on the seabed or platform or keel tank a distance beneath the evaporator.

A heat insulating reflecting anticorrosive paint, in a coordinated system composed of bottom, surface and middle layer paints coated on surface of concrete or metal, is suitable for sea climate and chemical engineering air severe atmosphere, which breaks convention of making the heat reflecting surface paint in white in prior market. Surface paints in present coordinated system is added with dye infrared transparent block powder with special function or gray, yellow and brown series made of titanium yellow powder so that the color of paints is versatile, which enlarges use scale. The whole paint system has excellent heat insulating, solar heat reflecting property by rational match and good heavy-duty anticorrosive property as well as excellent weather resistance. Thickness of total dry film does not exceed 250microns. Heat reflecting effect of surface paint in various colors is similar to that of white paint which has greater reflectivity and insulating effect. Compared with a tank coating aluminum powder chlorinated rubber solvent, the tank coating the paint has inner temperature 15 DEG.. C lower, surface temperature 23 DEG.. C.

The invention discloses a coastal zone ecological security evaluation method, comprising the following steps: 1. Screening coastal zone ecological security evaluation indicators based on marine health index and urban ecological security; 2. Constructing a coastal zone ecological security evaluation index system based on a PSR model; 3. Index data collection and dimensionless; 4. Analytic hierarchy process to determine the subjective weight of the evaluation index; 5. Entropy value method to determine the objective weight of the evaluation index; 6. Determine the comprehensive weight of each index; 7. Coastal ecological security index calculation and evaluation. The evaluation method of the present invention can well reflect under the background of rapid urbanization and industrialization and large-scale human development activities, the safety status of the ecological environment in the coastal zone and the main pressure factors it bears, and can provide a basis for the protection of the ecological environment in the coastal zone area in the future. and management provide a certain theoretical basis.