Underwater Intervention 2005 –Cool Abstracts

[crazyduck]

I was doing some research on life support systems and came across this confrence and the abstracts. I have listed the ones that jumped out at me. Is anyone attending this confrence?
Regards, Andrew


Abstracts Link: http://www.underwaterintervention.com/TechnicalProgramAbstracts.htm

New Technology and Developments:

Compact Hydrogen Fuel Storage for a Diver Heater Keith Lindler, PhD, U S Naval Academy
The necessity for active diver heating during long duration, cold water, swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) operations is well established. Alternative approaches to supply this active heating requirement have covered a wide range of technologies, including thermoelectric heaters, magnesium combustion, propane/catalytic heating, and direct electrical resistive heating. While all of these methods have been shown to be capable of producing sufficient quantities of heat, each has its own inherent restrictions and interface issues when applied to an SDV operation.

A simple hydrogen catalytic combustion heater was tested for deep diving applications. The high heat production demonstrated during this testing suggested that this approach could be used to minimize package size for long duration Spec War missions. Preliminary analysis has shown that less than 0.4 kg of hydrogen could supply the 2 kW of heat needed to sustain up to 6 divers in 0EC water for up to 6 hours. This paper presents the results of tests conducted with various metal hydrides used to provide a compact means of storing and delivering the hydrogen required for the heater.
WORK SPONSORED BY Naval Surface Warfare Center

Development and Sea Trial Test of Deep Sea Cruising Fuel Cell Type AUV "Urashima"
Ikuo Yamamoto, Tetu Tukioka, Hiroshi Yoshida, Tadahiro Hyakutome, Syoujiro Ishibashi, Tetuya Inada, Takao Sawa, Masashi Mizuno, and Taro Aoki
JAMSTEC Marine Technology Department
"Urashima" is an autonomous underwater vehicle for deep sea cruising by fuel cell. Such key technologies as the closed cycle fuel cell and the intelligent navigation control system have been newly developed for autonomous cruising in a wide area in the sea. Sea trial test more than 200 km distance along the course line of the sea searching area in the Suruga bay, Japan by "Urashima" have been successfully conducted and effectiveness of the key technologies have been confirmed at the first time in the paper, development of key technologies of "Urashima" is described and details of sea trial test are mentioned.

Recent Advancements in Lithium Ion High Energy Batteries for Undersea Vehicle Applications
N S Raman, David Mall, Kamen Nechev, and Mike Saft, Saft America
Lithium-Ion Batteries provide significant advantages over lead-acid, nickel cadmium and silver zinc chemistries for Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUV). Lithium-Ion Batteries with excellent energy densities provide significant benefits in weight, volume, and extended mission. Other advantages of the lithium-ion technology include excellent cycle and calendar life with an exceptionally low self-discharge. Hermetically sealed cell assembly combined with protection electronics provides a maintenance free system, improved performance and safety. This paper will highlight recent advancements in lithium-ion energy batteries for UUV applications.

Integration of New Material Technologies Into Improved Diver Thermal Protection
M L Nuckols, U S Naval Academy; J A Henkener, Southwest Research Institute; C Schaffer, Aspen Aerogel, Inc.
Conventional passive drysuits provide thermal protection by the use of foam or microfibrous batts worn beneath lightweight, elastomercoated waterproof shells. The inherent thermal protection value of these garments depends directly on the amount of entrapped air contained within these insulation batts. For long duration, cold missions the insulation thickness that is necessary to protect the diver is still excessively bulky and overly buoyant. As the diver enters the water the entrapped air in his suit migrates to the upper regions of the drysuit, applying pressure around the diver’s neck and shoulders, while leaving very little air in the lower extremities. This lower suit “squeeze” results in minimal thermal protection in the legs, feet and hands in spite of the high degree of suit bulk and buoyancy. It is safe to say that all previous attempts to thermally protect divers through passive means have struggled with the same “B-B-B Conflict” (bulk and buoyancy versus conserving the diver’s body heat). It is also apparent that a paradigm shift in suit design is necessary before significant improvements in diver thermal protection will be seen. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has teamed with Aspen Aerogel, Inc and the U. S. Naval Academy in developing a unique approach to building thermally effective diver’s garments. This approach integrates new material technologies, including liquids and super-insulating Aerogels materials, having insulation values exceeding stagnant air, into diving garments to achieve greater insulation, improve suit flexibility, reduce suit squeeze, reduce suit buoyancy, and reduce the impact of moisture on suit insulation. This paper provides an overview of this new suit development effort, and highlights the properties of these new material technologies.

[crazyduck]

Aerogel products: http://www.aerogel.com/footwear.htm
From Outer Space to Your Inner Space

Our Pyrogel® and Spaceloft™ materials were born in the mid to late 1990’s when development was initiated for NASA. In the cold dark vacuum of space, maintenance of body temperature is critical, yet spacesuits must be flexible and light to allow for freedom of movement. NASA found or aerogels to be a perfect fit, and so will you.

Unlike all other insulations for footwear and apparel applications that rely on decades old textile, foam or fiber technology, the insulating power of our materials is derived from space age aerogel technology. This technology yields materials with a sub nanoporous lattice structure that has a very high surface area and billions of irregularly shaped pores per unit of material. As such, as noted in the chart above, aerogels have anywhere from two to six times more insulating power than other commonly used materials.
Thin, Lightweight Flexible Materials for Footwear and Apparel

While all other materials rely on high thickness or loft to provide their insulation value, our aerogels do not. Spaceloft and Pyrogel provide higher insulation values at greatly reduced loft.

For example, in order to maintain stylish designs and functional performance, in Footwear applications there is very little space available for insulation, yet most of us are familiar with how quickly cold feet can spoil an outdoor adventure. Our Pyrogel AR5401, a carbon filled aerogel, leads the way in the industry by providing manufacturers with the ability to significantly upgrade the performance of their footwear and cold weather products, while increasing the freedom for design and other functional elements. The carbon also helps absorb odor.

Due to its high insulation efficiency, the Elite Forces of the US Military and The Canadian National Ski Team found that Shock Doctor Hotbed inserts with only 2.5mm of Pyrogel AR5401 provided an unmatched level of warmth and comfort in cold weather events and operations.

These same inserts were also used by renowned fitness expert Sean Burch who noted that they kept his feet comfortable at -35°F, even while wearing just trail shoes during his record setting North Pole Marathon performance.

Further, as shown on the chart below, this high level of performance is not compromised under load:

Note that even under the minimal force of 1 PSI applied in standard thermal testing, popular microfibers can lose up to 75% of their thickness and insulating power, while our aerogel maintains its original thickness.

Compressive loads applied to footwear and apparel during use are significantly higher than 1 PSI, so while other materials begin to falter, you can count on our aerogels to continue to deliver their high insulating power.

[JDR]

I will be unable to attend. If anyone is going (or knows someone who is going) I would be grateful for any info/handouts about the Urashima and the new developments in Lithium Ion for undersea vehicles. I'm studying AUV's now and all information is appreciated.