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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Subs and Habitats: Natural Gas Power



That's very interesting.

Are these gas seep locations known and fixed, or somewhat random? In other words, can they be predicted?

I don't have much knowledge on natural gas. Would storing it on a sub or habitat present any more of a safety risk than, say, diesel?

-Benjamin Arie

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 1:54 PM, Brian Cox <ojaivalleybeefarm@dslextreme.com> wrote:
Ben,
           Off the coast here where I live near Santa Barbara there are numerous areas where natural gas bubbles to the surface.  One area in particular just north of Santa Barbara a company ,Venco,  has a structure that is like a giant umbrella that captures gas in an area where it is very abundant.  It would be conceivable to rig a smaller vertion of something like that.  Then using a compressor fill up your tanks !
 
Check this out, scroll dow to see the capture set up
 
 http://www.venocoinc.com/natural_seeps.html
 
Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of Benjamin Arie
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 8:40 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Subs and Habitats: Solar Power

I think it would still be possible, especially for a habitat. Most navigational markers and many yachts have solar panels, as long as they're high enough above the water salt doesn't seem to be a problem. They wouldn't be *on* the habitat, obviously, but on a separate floating power station or shore unit, as you mentioned. For a remote habitat, it might be viable.

As far as being on a sub, I was thinking that they could be "deployed" when surfaced and kept stowed otherwise. This would be for a long-distance, week-long cruise, for instance. Maybe not enough to recharge everything, but an extra benefit to help conserve the main fuel.

Natural gas.... interesting idea. It would have to be in an already-commercialized area where gas connections are available, correct?

-Benjamin Arie



On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:51 AM, Brian Cox <ojaivalleybeefarm@dslextreme.com> wrote:
Ben,
           I think that would be a difficult thing to accomplish.  You would have to protect the solar panels from the salt water, which would be tough.  It might make sense to have them charging a battery pod on shore though.    On a sub you most likely would not be at the proper angle for optimum solar exposure, unless you were stationary.  Since we have an abundance of natural gas I wonder what the feasibility of a natural gas power plant would be?
 
Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of Benjamin Arie
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 1:03 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Subs and Habitats: Solar Power

Of course we've all thought about using solar panel as a method of recharging batteries, particularly for a surface-supplied habitat or surfaced sub.

Here's an interesting tool to estimate monthly or annual solar power energy in a geographic location:


Looks like the best place for solar-powered sub is... the middle of Arizona. Wait a sec.......


-Benjamin Arie