THE  PROJECT

The Mode of Transporting Gigantic Floating

Cargoes in the Oceans /Cipher "Iceberg"/

 

Agarjov V.A.

Introduction

 

The project deals with the technical oceanology, and more precisely, with the transport ocean floating. The main peculiarity of the project is that, for the first time, it suggests to use the power and geographic ways of the oceanic streams for transporting cargoes in the Oceans.

For the practical fulfilment of tne slogan: "From the primary cognition of the ocean to the real utilization of its resources", - a common antarctic iceberg or a chain of such "icy islands" are being considered in the given project as floating cargo.

 

1. The Necessity and Short Substantiation of the

Project Elaboration Importance

 

The practical importance of tne World Ocean and the cosmic space are comparable for the people. Jn reality, the space research technique develops considerably faster than the hydrocosmos research. As a result, the topography of the ocean ground is known to the terrestrial (earthly) people much worse than the Surface of the back side of the Moon. On the threshold of the 21 centry economic, oecological, geopolitical, and other factors created such a situation when many countries in the world have to change the priorities in the technical- scientific field. The ocean is a treasure-house, the possession of which is the main reason of high competition now. Although, the world ocean space belongs everybody, howener, the distribution of natural resources will depend on the contribution and the activity of the counties participating in exploration, extraction and transportation of the wealth. The documents of a number of conferences are known, which deal with the distribution of sections of the World ocean deepwater valleys ground. There were some attempts on the side of different developed countries to redivide Antarctica and to change its world status.

Under given conditions, the problems of technical oceanology and transport ocean floating, in particular, are paid higher attention. Among many technical-scientitfic trends connected with the exploration and industrial exploitation of the World ocean the most important and actual are the tasks of extraction of oceanic products by competitive methods and elaboration of economically profitable means of transporting this production to the distributing world centres.

In this respect, the given project completely satisfies the wishes mentioned above. An iceberg, as a depository of clean water, is a source of a precious product already fit to use.

The transporting of this gigantic floating cargo is provided by the forces of hydrodynamic origin, and their concentration and application to cargo in necessary place and direction is provided by a hydromover.

The project is, first and foremost, of interest to those who solve the problems connected with the lack of water. Deficiency in fresh water is known to be the problem of most arid (droughty) zones of the USA, Mexico, Chile, Africa, as well as Australia and densely inhabited regions of Japan. The given project may present a special interest to Australia, where the next Olympic games are planned to be held in 2000.

According to press information, the price of one glass of clean water in Sydney is about $ 1 of the USA. And at the same time 1,200 mln. tons of icebergs, the cleanest water of which would satisfy the needs of 6 billion persons, starts floating from Antarctica annually.

For economic substantiation of expediency of introducing the project the main argument is that the suggested mode of iceberg transportation uses natural energy of the oceanic "rivers", and does not use the fuel energy provided by a great number of the internal combustion engines as it was suggested before.

 

2. The Main Aim of the Project and the Terms of its Achievement

 

The main aim of the project is the practical application of one of the economically profitable and oecologically clean modes of transporting gigantic floating cargoes , of iceberg type, along the preselected route of the oceanic stream.

The results of the previons fundamental, searching, and applied investigation in the field of technical oceanology, naval navigation and transport  seafaring (navigation) promote to achieve the project aim.

For this purpose, it is necessary to fulfil the plan of works set forth below:

            1996 - information advertisement of the project, participation in international auctions and conferences, conclusion of a contract on the project;

            1997 - working out the documents, theoretical and experimental research of the principles of application of hydrodynamic tractive forces in the "oceanic stream-hydromover-cargo" system;

            1998 - production and test of the model patterns of hydromovers under most approximate to natural conditions;

            1999 - creation of an experimental hydromover and carrying out tests under existing conditions; preparation of equipment, instruments, programs, and methods, as well as groups of experts for the participation in the expedition to the antarctic drifting-ice region;

            2000 - organization of the expedition and its completion to a given term (iceberg delivery, for example, to Australia shores to the centre of ice processing, water pumping over and surface transporting).

 

3. Short Description of the Problem Being Solved by the Project

 

It was John Izeks, an American, who suggested iceberg transporting some decades ago.

Then some more investigators worked on the problem of possibility to transport icebergs. They seemed to have taken into account everything in their works: the choice of variants and transport technique; the measures of fighting thawing; the detection of convenient deep-sea routes; possible influence on surroundings; as well as the problems connected with marine law application in the polar off-shore waters.

Most of the facts which became known to them will, to some extent, be used in the suggested project.

For example, such conclusions and recommendations are of interest:

          for transporting an iceberg to the place of destination it is necessary to choose a water route relative to the ocean ground with the depth not less than 200-300 m;

          icebergs of the width less than 200 m are not recommended to transport due to the danger of their splitting on the way;

          the longer "caravan" (20-50 km), the less are the delivery costs of 1 cu m of ice;

          to choose an iceberg and to define its coordinates it's possible to use the information from Sputnic (satellite);

          the power necessary to transport an iceberg equals 1 mln kwt/1.35 mln hp;

          to prevent rapid thawing on the way an iceberg is recommended to be covered by overlapping plastic film of 3 m width; for this purpose, it will take the team of 8-12 workers 100-300 hours;

          inspite of supreme efforts the iced worm will slowly move along the ocean at a speed of 2 knots (3.5 km.p.h.);

          during icebergs navigation it's necessary to take into account the influence of coriolise forse;

          an iceberg travelling from the Rossa Sea to Kalifornia will take about a year;

          an iceberg delivery to Australia shores may take no more than some months;

          the change of the climate in the process of iceberg transportation including the place of destination shores is not a subject of apprehension;

          costs sum total for the delivery of 1 cu m of antarctic fresh water to the destribution centre according to previons inverstigators calculations will be approximately 2.4 c.

The application of tractive forces of oceanic streams for iceberg transporting revolutionary changes the notion about characteristics of perspective technical means of oceanfloating necessary for exploitation of the World Ocean resources.

Power, which may be obtained from hydromovers in the centre of oceanic streams, is practically unlimited. It is defined only by tensile strength and demensions of hydromovers construction. Due to supreme tractive forces from hydromover the speed of cargo transporting on the ocean surface will be equal to the speed of the stream itself. Remind, that the stream of Kromvel speed is 5 km.p.h., the Stream of Lomonosov speed is 4 km.p.h., and the Stream of the West Winds or the Antarctic circumpolar stream speed is not less than 1-2 km.p.h. With optimum route cargo transporting time along the oceanic "rivers" will be less than the time needed to tow the same cargo by traditional technical means.

It is obvious, that for the realization (fulfilment) of the given project it is necessary to carry out additional fundamental, searching and applied investigations in different spheres of technical oceanology. Thus, for example, to improve the technological process of the work connected with "collection", "sighting" and iceberg navigation, as well as large volume of above-water and under-water assembling and control operations, it is planned to utilize a wide circle of aviation-technical, rocket-cosmic, and purely naval technologies additionally elaborated conformably to the conditions of the ice drifting regions.

 

4. The Main (Priority) Activities Trends for the Achievement

of the Ultimate End of the Project

 

J.L.Halt and N.S.Ostrander, the authors of the previons investigations of the icebergs transporting problem, said: "The more thoroughly we'll approach to the matter, the more interesting and perspective the project will prove to be".

Jt's difficult to add something more even now, strudying materials (documents) of the given project.

Among the priority activity trends determining the project success or its failure, may be enumerated the following:

          the creation of a hydromover on the basis of the hydrodynamic principle of operation, using the oceanic stream power to create atractive force (efforts);

          the development of the optimum assembly-fastening constructions (designs) connecting the hydromover to the floating (drifting) cargo;

          the selection of the principle of drifting cargo "sighting", depending on the starting points co-ordinates and on the aim and the mode of the oceanic streams between them;

          the organization of marine proving ground and expeditions to provide tests;

          the selection of specialists-experts in this field of technology and the staffing of specialized groups;

          the search of financial sources for the fulfilment of the project through various information media.

 

5. Tentative Evaluation of the Project Realization Costs

 

First of all, it is important to note, that the payment for labour and intellectual activity of participants in the development of the given project is incomparable to the expected technical and economical effects value, the project results being used perspectively.

The future enterprise on the development and the introduction of the suggested means of transporting the floating (drifting) cargoes in the ocean (icebergs) includes:

          an ocean-going ship with two helicopters on board;

          a technical-scientific group of staff elaborating the project documents;

          a production and an experimental station, including a model-experimental plant, specialized pond for hydrodynamic investigations and model patterns tests;

          a sea (oceanic) proving ground for testing models and experimental patterns under real conditions.

For tentative evaluation of the project realization costs, the following initial data should be taken:

          the total period of time for the work fulfilment makes up 4 years;

          the total number of participants in the development and realization of the project is 100 persons;

          a production and an experimental station, including a ship and helicopters, should be exploited only according to a leasing agreement;

          the total working hours for the project account for 1 mln. man working hours.

Proceeding from salary payment rates and equipment and leasing agreements, costs, the tentative costs of the suggested project will be within the limits of $50-100 mln.

For comparative evaluation of these expenses to those (expenses) for some other projects let's adduce the following figures:

          "Appolo" Space programme (the landing of a man on the Moon) cost $ 25 billion;

          the elaboration of a helicopter by France and Germany requires $ 1 billion annually;

          only the  fuel consumed by a single iceberg transporting by a well-known mode will cost about $ 0.5-1 billion.

          "DEEP SEA Ventures", an American firm, about already two decades ago invested $ 20  mln. for the preliminary investigation of the problem of ore output from  the Ocean ground and technical aspects of its transportation.

Nowadays, the exact information about the project on technical oceanology, as well as the results of the research expeditions of many countries are being kept in secret.

 

Conclusion

 

The transportation of the gigantic floating (drifting) cargoes (icebergs) at the expense of hydrocosmic energy with the help of hydromovers - the concentrators of the oceanic stream pressure efforts  related to the category of the original technical-scientific suggestiong. Such and simply incomprehensible suggestions are always met with distrust on the side of official science and struggle through to introduction.

The examples are: the destiny of the idea to use the direct sun pressure, first suggested by B. Krasnogorsky; originally in comprehensible ideas to use the sun power with the help of mirrors-concentrators (U.V. Kondratjuk's suggestion) or about the possibility of flights in cosmic space with the help of light pressure (F.A. Tsander's suggestion).

The introduction of the project will open a historical page in transport oceanofloating and will cause the necessity to create a great number of pioneer inventions with the purpose of exploitation of the World Ocean resources.

The world of oceanic and sea streams, full of mistery and evergy (power), will be revealed to the humanity by 2020 year. Hydromovers, like aircraft or surface transport vehicles, will be guided from integrated flight-navigation, information-measuring and distance-oecological complexes which together with the system of receivers and sound signals hologram readers will be capable to solve all the problems of orientation, navigation and motion of the transported cargoes relatively to the ocean ground and the oceanic rivers "shipping channels".

The author of the project proposes everybody, who is satisfied with the presented information and ready to participate in achieving ultimate and of the project aim, to send propositions at the address:

                        Ukrain, 252160, Kiev-160, Kharkovskoje Shosse, 2, flat 10.

                        Telephone: 044-559-31-34

                        Fax: 044-229-02-09, Е – mail  agarev2@mail.ru

Agarjov Vladimir Alexandrovitch, the academician of the Ukrainian International Academy of Original Ideas.

 

Supplement:              Fig. 1. Boundsoj ice ixtention in the South Ocean.

                                               Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of Streams distribution                                                                   on the World Ocean.

 

 

September 6, 1996                                                                                    /V.A.Agarjov/

 

 

The Project Supplement

 

Fig. 1. Bounds of ice extention in the South Ocean.

 

            1-5      - the north and the South equatorial streams;

            6          - Kurosio;                                          7 - the East-Australian Stream;

            8          - the Gulf Stream;                             9 - Brazil Stream;

            10       - Aguljas Stream;                             11 - the North Pacific Ocean Stream;

            12       - the north Atlantic Stream;

            13       - the Antarctic Circumpolar Stream;

            14       - the Kalifornia Stream;

            15       - the Pery Stream;                            16 - the Canary Stream;

            17       - the Bengal Stream;                                   18 - the West Australian Stream;

            19-21  -  the Equatorial antistreams;

            22       - the Alaska and Aleutian Streams;

            23       - the Norway Stream;

            24       - the West Spitsbergen Stream;

            25       - the East Greenland Stream;

            26       - the Labrador Stream;

            27       - the Stream of Irminger;

            28       - Ojacio;

            29       - the Folkland Stream

 

Fig.2.  The Schematic Diagramme of the Streams on the World Ocean

                        Surface