Discussion on ballast and seals

[Mike Young <tvcmikey@yahoo.com>]

Mike here,
I haven't been active so much lately, I'm up to the alligator level in
finishing my Master's thesis, but I wanted to add something to all the
discussion lately.
On the Navy sub I was on they have this thing to discharge trash while
out at sea, it's called a TDU. Now this thing is a tube reaching down
20 feet and has a 10" hole at either end, with a 14" ball valve at the
bottom of the boat. This valve at the bottom is rigged to fail shut.
At 250 feet the pressure is enough that if it failed OPEN, the whole
ship would flood in about 10-15 minutes, and the emergency escape
system takes a half-hour to cycle thru ONCE.Way figger,huh?
Another thing is a series of tanks for ballast control. You add water
to any tank and the sub becomes heavier. You can move water or liquids
around from one tank to another to change pitch, yaw and level. Even
diesel fuel is floated on sea water to allow for automatic
compensation. Air tanks are used to blow any tank clear for emergencies

Well, 'nuff for now
FWAFS
Mike




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