Technical Assessment Report for Abyssal Plains Waste Isolation Project.

Abstract

The Department of Defense's Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been tasked by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) to assess the environmental viability of the isolation of dredged material, sewage sludge, and municipal incinerator fly ash on the abyssal plains of the deep ocean. Abyssal Plains Waste Isolation (APWI) is the term given by this project to the isolation of waste on the abyssal plains. Oceaneering Technologies (OTECH) has been tasked by NRL to assess waste handling technologies regarding engineering feasibility and reliability. The technical assessment of candidate waste handling technologies consisted of a three part process. First, through a series of patent research, brainstorming new ideas, and a methodical down-select and evaluation exercise, five concepts were chosen to be evaluated. Technical issues of these five concepts were then identified and explored as the second major process step. Lastly, a risk assessment of these concepts was performed to determine overall technical and operational feasibility. The five system concepts are referred to, in this report, as: Surface Emplacement, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Glider, Direct Descent Disk, Pipe Riser, and Tethered Container. To eliminate repetition, elements common to all system concepts, such as transporter systems, containers, handling systems, and waste specific gravity were researched separately. This technical assessment report is the second in a series of three reports submitted to NRL by OTECH. The first report covered the system level requirements which all candidate waste handling technologies must meet. This technical assessment report will be followed by a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost analysis of the most viable APWI system concepts. (AN)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 10, 1995
Accession Number
ADA302180

Entities

People

  • J. M. Hightower
  • Steve Balinski
  • Timothy Foster
  • William Briggs
  • William R. Richards

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Engineering
  • Drops
  • Dynamic Response
  • Engineers
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Fabrication
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Marine Transportation
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Testing
  • Naval Architecture
  • Ridges
  • Seabed
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Waste Products

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Oceanography.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy