Project Title: Submergence Plane Oil Containment Technology
Principal Investigator(s): M. Robinson Swift, Barbaros Celikkol and Robert Steen.

Accomplishments
Scheduled Tasks:
The main tasks for the previous 6-month period were to finalize the Bay Defender III (BDIII) design, construct the system and field test in the Spring. BDIII is the 100 foot long, flexible submergence plane barrier for intercepting and retaining spilled oil. Increasing the across-current length from 40 feet (as in the previous system) to 100 feet compounds many design problems associated with the flexible structure. Building in adequate strength and developing deployment procedures that deal with the increased size were of particular concern.

The information dissemination task is an ongoing one, implying the writing and presentation of project results, as well as meeting with potential users of this technology. Cooperation with the Piscataqua River Cooperative (PRC) and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) in field exercises deploying the previously developed Bay Defender II (BDII) 40 foot system also furthers project goals.

Progress on Tasks
Shop drawings and specifications for the final 100 foot BDIII design were prepared. Contracts were awarded to outside vendors for the fabrication of the aluminum longitudinals, air inflated buoyancy and the fabric work. After parts were delivered, the system was put together in the Ocean Engineering Building at UNH.

Field deployment took place on the morning of May 8, 2001 at the Sprague-Newington oil terminal. BDIII was brought to the site by pickup and box truck and was assembled on the beach at low tide (see Figures 1-3). One hundred foot lengths of lead-in conventional boom were attached to each forward corner. BDIII was then towed off the beach using a PRC boat operated by Portsmouth Harbor Tow. The lead-ins were "anchored on the fly" forming a containment configuration with BDIII at the critical apex position. After adjusting the anchors, BDIII assumed the proper shape, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, in a flood current of over one knot.

In other field work, the 40 foot BDII was deployed with lead-in booms in Furber Strait off Adams Point on May 24, 2001. In this exercise, conducted mainly by the PRC in cooperation with DES, BDII was launched from a flat-decked barge using the same approach that was successful previously at Spruce Creek. This time, however, current caught the top of the submergence plane as the system went into the water. The resulting force broke the port lead-in boom. The broken boom had to be lashed together before the deployment could be completed. Another problem was getting the starboard anchor to hold. The bottom at that location didn't permit the anchor to bite in and get a grip, so the starboard end was held in place by towboat. Both problems can and will be avoided in future deployments.

As part of our information dissemination responsibilities, a peer-reviewed conference paper (Swift et al., 2001) was included in the Proceedings of the 2001 International Oil Spill Conference. In addition, a manuscript describing the effectiveness of flexible, submergence plane barriers in retaining oil is now in preparation.

Project PI's Swift and Celikkol met with Canadian Coast Guard officials in Ottawa, along with the owner and associates of JPS Industries, Inc. - a New Hampshire based manufacturer of oil spill response equipment. The fast-water capabilities of submergence plane systems were presented. At this time the Canadian Coast Guard is reassessing their equipment needs, and purchases of new systems are planned for the near future.

The James River Reserve Fleet, consisting of over 100 aged vessels anchored in the James River, VA, has recently had some oil spills as a result of corroding fuel tanks. Since tidal currents range from one to two knots, conventional oil booms are ineffective, but flexible, submergence plane barriers are capable of containing heavy oil. At the suggestion of CDR Chris Doane, head of the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team, we are looking into the feasibility of using Bay Defenders, along with any other best available fast-water technology, to address the situation.

Anticipated Success in Meeting Project Objectives in Scheduled Project Period
A no-cost extension has been granted as described above.

Difficulties Encountered
In the middle of May 2001 Robert Steen, the project research engineer, left UNH to take an environmental engineering position in Maine. Rob Steen played a central role in the day-to-day operations of equipment fabrication and field testing. It was anticipated that Brett Fullerton would be ready to step up and cover these responsibilities. As an undergraduate Mechanical Engineering (ME) senior, Brett had worked full-time on the project and had gained experience designing and building BDIII. Rather than graduating and continuing with this project over the summer as a Master of Science in Ocean Engineering student, however, Brett elected to complete a dual major - German as well as ME. To finish the German requirements, Brett had to go to Germany this summer to serve an internship. He will not be back to UNH until October 2001. This has severely limited what can be done this summer in the field with BDIII. On the other hand, salary funds were freed up.

To optimize project resources and eventual accomplishments, a no-cost extension was requested and granted. The plan is to continue with BDIII field work in the fall (after Brett gets back) and then write the final report

Preliminary Results
Based on the first field deployment, the extension of the BD concept from 40 feet to 100 feet appears feasible and no fundamental difficulties are expected.

Tasks and activities for next reporting period

Tasks for the next reporting period
We plan to do more field testing with the 100 foot BDIII in the fall and complete the manuscript now in preparation. The last project task is the writing of the final report

Work plan to accomplish tasks
Field testing will be done in cooperation with Portsmouth Towing and the PRC. Once the manuscript writing is done, it will be submitted for publication. Project results will be summarized in the final report.

Expenditures
The project will remain within the original budget.

References
Swift, M.R., P. Dugan, P. Nourse, R. Steen, B. Celikkol, C.W. Doane and K.A. Hansen (2001) "Flexible, Submergence Plane Oil Containment Systems", Proceedings of the 2001 International Oil Spill Conference, Tampa, Florida, March 26-29, 2001, American Petroleum Institute, 1355-1359.