March
2005
Table
of Contents:
Texas |
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New England |
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March
2005
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Texas
Section December 14, 2004 The December luncheon meeting of the Texas Section focused on marine applications of the SPS system, presented by Scott McClure. The SPS system is based on an epoxy based material sandwiched between two metal plates, and can be applied to existing structures, such as an FPSO on location. It is important for hot work not to be done when the SPS system is used, as repair times are often completed quicker then traditional methods. Due to the makeup of the epoxy material, a panel made from the SPS material has excellent impact energy absorption. Energy is dissipated by the epoxy, resulting in little deformation to the metal shell. Although originally developed for use in structural repair, further development has opened other areas for application. When necessary, the thickness of the epoxy layer may be varied in order to provide thermal insulation. For example, it may be possible to use the SPS to meet A60 fire safety requirements. The meeting concluded with Henry Reeve presenting Scott McClure with a recognition plaque.
January 11, 2005 Ernst Meyer of Det Norske Veritas presented “Risk Based Design of Offshore Equipment and Structures” at the Texas Section meeting in January. The presentation focused on the use of Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) in order to obtain design loads needed to ensure structural survivability in the event of an accident, such as equipment failure and explosion. Once the QRA has been done to establish baseline risks, it may be possible to further reduce design loads by applying another layer of analysis: Probabilistic Analysis. Probabilistic analysis defines the most realistic real-world scenarios. By taking into account typical prevailing winds, for example, a dense gas cloud of given size is used prior to ignition for QRA. For the probabilistic approach, the probability of ignition is taken into account, as well as likely dispersion of the cloud. This level of analysis could reduce or eliminate the risk of actual gas cloud ignition, reducing the design loads required for structural integrity.
February 8, 2005 The February lunch meeting was designated as the annual meeting for the Texas section. Section business included election of next year’s officers with the following results: Current Vice-Chairman Lars Ronning was elected as Chairman, current Secretary/Treasurer Donald Burris was elected as Vice-Chairman, and Arrangements Coordinator Harry Ren was elected Secretary/Treasurer.
In addition to officer elections, Yong Lou of SBM-IMODCO presented his paper titled “F(S)RU – NEW FLOATING RE-GASIFICATION UNIT FOR LNG IMPORT”. The Texas section originally published this paper as part of the Proceedings of the 14th Offshore Symposium. However, due to schedule limitations, no time was available for the presentation. The delay between paper publication and presentation however did nothing to hinder attendance, drawing a standing-room only crowd of almost 100. Dr. Lou presented a conceptual design for a new floating regasification unit for import. The design involved converting an existing oil tanker into a floating terminal facility. The design has been developed for a range of water depths of 40 to 90 meters in the Gulf of Mexico. A spread-moored turret design allows for the FRU to weathervane in environmental conditions. The mooring system has been designed to hold not only an FRU on location, but also an LNG tanker during tandem offloading procedures. It was noted that while the system design proves that offloading operations can carry on through a range of seastates, many vessel captains would probably choose to discontinue operations in milder environments. Various regasification techniques have been studied to ensure high system uptime. After regasification, gas can either be sent to shore through pipeline, stored on board (FSRU), or stored in underground in salt domes. The meeting concluded with Chairman Henry Reeve thanking Yong Lou.
New
England Section December 9, 2004 On Dec 9th, 2004 Mr. Matthew Winkler, of Seaworthy Systems, presented “Marine Diesel Engine Emissions and Future Emission Directions” at the New England Section meeting. With NOx emissions from marine diesel engines accounting for 4.8% of all US NOx emissions, 30-40% of US shore-side emissions of SOx, and 1% of all particulate matter emissions in the US, this topic is one that will be of increasing importance in the industry in the coming years. Mr. Winkler brought the section up to speed on the regulatory bodies that are enforcing or proposing legislation on emissions for marine diesel engines, and presented the current and future caps on these emissions.
The three main types of emissions that are of particular concern are NOx (nitrogen oxides), SOx (sulfur oxides) and PM (particulate matter). For each of these types of emissions Mr. Winkler presented ways in which a reduction of these emissions could be achieved. For NOx some of the greatest reduction in emissions can be achieved by catalytic reduction (90% reduction), water emulsification into marine fuel (20-50% reduction) and exhaust gas recirculation (20-50% reduction). Some other approaches included changes to the injectors, changing the timing on the engines and having larger charge air coolers. In the case of SOx the emission are directly related to the sulfur content of the marine diesel used. Due to the presence of SOx emission control areas (areas in which sulfur emissions have to be very low) ships that transit through these areas have to switch to very low sulfur gas oil to meet the emission standards. When they are clear of these areas they may elect to switch back to higher sulfur content fuels. In the case of particulate matter, some of the suggested practices include: fuel/water emulsification, limit operations to below 60% engine load, and use lower sulfur marine fuels - since 40% of the sulfur content gets converted to PM. Finally, Mr. Winkler presented the section with some forward-looking ideas into ways of reducing global greenhouse (CO2) gases, and some of the challenges that these ideas face. At
the conclusion of his presentation Mr. Winkler answered some questions
from the audience; Cory Wood (Section chair) then presented Mr. Winkler
with a certificate of appreciation from the section. January 18, 2005 The first meeting of the 2005 calendar year for the New England Section was a joint meeting with ASNE and took place at the Officer’s Club at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. The topic presented was “Design of New Maritime Security Cutters, US Coast Guard and Shipbuilder’s Perspective.” by Mrs. Diane Burton, Technical Director at the US Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater Systems Program, Captain Doug Russell of the US Coast Guard and Mr. John Hopkins of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. Captain Doug Russell started the presentation with an overview of some the issues that face the US Coast Guard today. The mission of the USCG has dramatically broadened in the past years, although search and rescue remains a core function of the organization, recent events have caused the scope of missions to include such varied areas as controlling immigration, arms trafficking, marine resources management, terrorism, sanction enforcement, safeguarding ports and waterways, etc… On a national level, the Department of Homeland Security is developing an overall strategy to address the new operational context for its resources. The idea is to move from a scattered combination of assets with limited awareness of their operation environment to a highly networked “system of systems” in which each asset is operating with full access to data relating to its immediate surroundings as well as data relating to the complete overall operational context. With this idea as the backdrop, the US Coast Guard is shifting from replacing individual units that are getting close to the end of their useful life to assembling the right combination of units and technologies that will enable this new system to take form. Key elements of this new approach, that were presented, include:
Following Captain Russell’s presentation of these initiatives, Mr. John Hopkins of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems discussed in more detail some of the elements of the contract between the USCG and Northrop Grumman, and the ways in which the overall approach should lead to a more effective way of developing the Coast Guard’s capabilities. The presentation was followed by some questions for the presenters, and was concluded with the presenters receiving a certificate of appreciation from the section.
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