A SUBMERSIBLE SYSTEM PROPOSED FOR DEEP-SEA TRENCHING

A deep-sea mining system developed by Demag A.G. could be modified to dig trench for submarine piplines. The system for water depths to 16,000 ft comprises a crawler-mounted collector unit on the seabed, connected by a haulage pipe to a vertical capsule-shaped, 82 ft long intermediate-level pumping station set at a depth down to 1600 ft but maintained at 1 atm to facilitate servicing by men traveling via a tube from a surface vessel. Because of the hydrostatic difference in elevation, material collected off the sea bottom flows into the station without pumping; solids and water are separated in the intermediate station, and then pumped to a surface vessel or platform. The seabed unit consists of an undercarriage for the crawler drive and slewing drive, a pressure-tight slewable superstructure housing control instruments and lighting and television-camera equipment, and a 33-50 ft long cutter head boom. By slewing the superstructure from side to side, a strip about 65 ft wide can be mined or trenched.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00301388
• Corporate Authors:

  Petroleum Publishing Company

  211 South Cheyenne, P.O. Box 1260
  Tulsa, OK  United States  75221
• Publication Date: 1972-7-17

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 89
• Serial:
  • Oil and Gas Journal
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue Number: 29
  • Publisher: PennWell Publishing Company
  • ISSN: 0030-1388

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; Pipe laying; Pipelines; Underwater pipelines
• Candidate Terms: Pipe laying ships
• Old TRIS Terms: Pipeline construction
• Subject Areas: Construction; Marine Transportation; Pipelines; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00056112
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Petroleum Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 15 1974 12:00AM