Really Big Balloons Joe Van Ryzin Makai Ocean
Really Big Balloons Joe Van Ryzin Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. Makai Ocean Engineering
Makai Ocean Engineering
Makai Ocean Engineering
Makai Ocean Engineering
Towed steel structure? • Steel structure pre-fabricated in modules • Assembled in deep water • Filled with special water – offsets weight of steel. Not fresh. • Tow to site and submerge. • Expensive – and forced to transport you water to the site in an inefficient structure Makai Ocean Engineering
Towing Makai Ocean Engineering
Fresh Water Problems • Anchoring is expensive • Must deliver weight (in either anchor, salt or whatever) anyway • Buoyancy within sphere, because of diameter, is a significant structural problem for fabric balloon. • Any leak – serious problem Makai Ocean Engineering
Alt: deliver special salt and fresh water • Reduce balloon costs by perhaps 90%, keep buoyancy to 0. 1% of that of fresh water (300 tons, more then enough). • Deploy concrete-weighted balloon just slightly negative – use fresh water to offset anchors. • Deliver to site: special salt. • Produce fresh water at site with RO • Pump mixed solution to bottom through long HDPE pipeline. Makai Ocean Engineering
Mini OTEC • First Hawaii deep water pipeline • HDPE • Flexible mooring and intake pipe Makai Ocean Engineering
Delivering Fresh Water 5 km long HDPE pipe assumed. 30” pipe reusable – estm $10 m Makai Ocean Engineering
Deliver Salt to Site Makai Ocean Engineering
Prelim conclusions • Fresh-water filled not a good idea • steel structure: no cost advantage and have serious deployment issues. • Need to transport water in any case: cheaper to make on site • Fabric balloons are workable structure. • Fabric balloon deployed empty, deliver salt and produce fresh water at site to fill balloon over several trips. Makai Ocean Engineering
Prelim wild guess • • Fabric balloon: $56 million Anchoring: $5 million Salt and water delivery: $42 million General deployment: $15 million • Total: $118 million? ? Makai Ocean Engineering
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