Proposal Number: 1013341 Institution: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) PI: J. Malbrough Co-PI: D. Guidry
The proposal requests funding for a fleet-wide group purchase of wire monitoring hardware and software to bring nine (9) vessels in the US academic research vessel fleet into compliance with Appendix A, of the Research Vessel Safety Standards (RVSS), March 2009 including the R/V PELICAN. Appendix A of the RVSS specifies minimum requirements for cable monitoring systems (tension recording and display rates, alarms, etc.) in order for the vessel to meet specific Safe Working Load (SWL) criteria; the lower the SWL, the more stringent the requirements. SWL requirements for oceanographic wires and cable are lower than standards used ashore in order to meet science equipment deployment requirements particularly at full ocean depths. This group purchase will improve safety and enhance science support capability by ensuring oceanographic wire monitoring systems are in compliance with the current safety standards and latest available technology.
Broader Impacts: The R/V PELICAN supports federally funded scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico in order to expand human knowledge of the ocean environment. During operations, the vessel routinely exposes graduate and undergraduate students to seagoing oceanography. Pubic outreach is also achieved through real-time satellite connectivity from ship to shore, open house events, educational cruises, and involvement in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center which is an intern-based training program for marine technicians. The ships included in this group purchase support hundreds of NSF sponsored days in 2010.
LUMCON was tasked with conducting a group purchase of a UNOLS fleet wide LCI-90i line control monitoring system from Measurement Technology Northwest. LUMCON requested funds to purchase new line control displays for the following research vessels in the UNOLS fleet: Pelican, Atlantic Explorer, Cape Hatteras, Endeavor, Kilo Moana, Point Sur, Sharp, Wacoma, Walton Smith, Healy and Polar Star. A number of UNOLS vessels currently use Measurement Technology Northwest’s (MTNW) LCI-90 to a monitor winch wire parameters. The units have performed well over the last 10 years. In March 2009 the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) revised the Research Vessel Safety Standard (RVSS) manual. In the section covering UNLOS rope and cable safe working loads standards (appendix A) in the revised RVSS manual, it recommends that an operator be able to monitor cable tension every 100mS ( 10Hz) and log data at a rate of 50mS (20Hz). These sample rates are required when working in a safety factor of 2.0 to 1.5 of the cable’s breaking strength. The current LCI-90 will not meet these monitoring requirements. Realizing this issue MTN has developed a new line control display, the LCI-90i. The new LCI-90i will meet and exceed the revised UNOLS Research Vessel Safety Standards. The new standards also require the system to log data. This requirement is met by using MTN’s logging software with the new LCI-90i. This software is designed to work with LCI-90i in providing the operator with the ability to digitally log a wide range of wire/winch parameters. Having real-time and historical data on file will aid the operator to insure all winch systems stay within a predetermined safety factor. Depending on each vessel’s winch monitoring needs, a system was designed according to each vessel’s winch placement, winch control room location and computer monitoring station. As of September 2012, the MTNW’s LCI-90i and software monitoring systems has been installed on all vessels accept for the research vessels Polar Star. This vessel is currently out of service until further notice.
