Submersible Depth Control Using Ballast and Vertical Thrusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing submersible vessels face challenges in achieving and maintaining desired depths with accuracy while minimizing energy consumption and noise, as ballast control systems provide coarse depth control and thrusters consume large amounts of energy and can be noisy.
Innovation Solution
A submersible vessel equipped with a ballast control system and vertical marine thrusters, where the ballast control system adjusts buoyancy and the thrusters maintain depth, allowing for precise depth control with reduced power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If ballast control systems are used to adjust depth, then depth control is achieved, but depth accuracy is coarse and power consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The depth control function is segmented into two parts: ballast control system for coarse depth adjustment and vertical thrusters for fine depth control. This segmentation allows each subsystem to operate in its optimal range, with the ballast system handling large buoyancy changes and the thrusters providing precise position holding, thereby improving overall depth accuracy while managing power consumption efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The ballast control system is used to achieve approximately 90% of the desired depth (coarse control), and then the vertical thrusters provide the remaining 10% adjustment (fine control). This partial action approach avoids using the high-power ballast system for small adjustments, significantly reducing overall power consumption while maintaining high depth accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If vertical marine thrusters are used for depth control, then precise depth positioning is achieved, but power consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented such that vertical thrusters are only activated when the submersible is within a threshold distance of the target depth. For deeper positions, only the ballast system operates. This segmentation ensures thrusters consume power only when necessary for fine positioning, dramatically reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The thrusters provide only partial depth control (the final fine-tuning portion), while the ballast system handles the majority of depth adjustment. This partial action strategy prevents continuous thruster operation, reducing power consumption while preserving depth positioning accuracy through coordinated control.
3Measurement precision
If vertical marine thrusters are used for depth control, then depth positioning is achieved, but operational noise is high
Solution Approach 1:
The propulsion system is segmented into ballast control (quiet operation) and vertical thrusters (noisy but precise). By segmenting the operational ranges and using thrusters only for fine position holding near the target depth, the overall operational noise is reduced while maintaining depth control accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
Vertical thrusters operate only partially (when within threshold distance of target depth) rather than continuously. This partial operation minimizes the time thrusters generate noise, reducing overall operational noise footprint while maintaining precise depth positioning capability when needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combination of ballast control and thrusters enables quick, quiet, and accurate depth adjustment and maintenance, reducing power requirements and operational noise.
Implementation Method 1
When the valves open, water floods the ballast tank(s), causing the buoyancy of a marine vessel to decrease, thereby causing the marine vessel to sink. When a desired depth is reached, the computer controller either injects compressed air into the ballast tank(s), pumps some of the water out of the ballast tank(s) using an electro-mechanical pump, or causes a cylinder to move inside the ballast tank(s), thereby ejecting water out through the control valve(s). In any case, some or all of the water inside the ballast tank(s) is/are displaced, thereby causing an increase of the buoyancy of the marine vessel.
Implementation Method 2
These thrusters typically utilize an electric motor under computer control that causes a propeller or impeller to turn, thereby creating a resultant force to act on a submersible vessel, causing it to ascend or descend in the water.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of an apparatus and method for achieving and maintaining a desired depth of a submersible vessel are disclosed. The submersible vessel has both a ballast control system designed to alter a buoyancy of the submersible vessel and one or more vertical marine thrusters, designed to position the submersible vessel at a desired depth. Using the combination of the ballast control system and one or more thrusters, a desired depth may be achieved and maintained more quickly, more quietly and more accurately than vessels using only a ballast control system or one or more thrusters, respectively, alone.