Episode 6: Simulating an Ocean

Technology Today

Southwest Research Institute

Technology

4.8 • 19 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2019

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do you lessen the chance of a deep sea disaster? Put your equipment through rigorous testing before it ever hits the water. Testing underwater equipment in the ocean is costly, but necessary for safety. The SwRI Ocean Simulation Lab is a reliable alternative and offers a sea of options. Our guest in this episode is Southwest Research Institute engineer Joe Crouch. He tells us how his team brings the ocean to life, recreating the temperatures and pressures of a deep sea dive, in an 18,000-square-foot lab. Researchers are submerging all types of equipment to measure strength and durability and to help avoid deep ocean catastrophes. Plus, how is the deep ocean team creating rescue solutions for stranded submarine crews? And what role did SwRI play in the discovery of the Titanic wreckage? Listen now as we ride the waves of simulating an ocean.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We're taking a deep dive into an ocean simulation lab where engineers are bringing much-needed answers to the surface.
0:07.4	Our guest today turns up the pressure and plunges underwater equipment into deep sea conditions.
0:13.1	How is his work improving entire industries, helping the U.S. Navy and making the world safer?
0:20.3	That's next on this episode of Technology Today.
0:27.1	We live with technology, science, engineering, and the results of innovative research every day.
0:33.5	Now, let's understand it better.
0:35.2	You're listening to the new Technology Today podcast presented by Southwest Research Institute.
0:41.8	Hello and welcome to technology today.
0:43.7	I'm your host, Lisa Benia.
0:45.6	Imagine a catastrophic equipment failure in the depths of the ocean, maybe a pipeline bursts or a diving suit or submarine fails.
0:54.4	What are the implications for sea life, the ocean, the oil and gas industry, even human life?
1:00.6	Our guest today is Joe Crouch, a Southwest Research Institute engineer and marine and offshore systems program director.
1:07.6	He takes underwater equipment to the limit with the goal of avoiding a deep sea catastrophe.
1:13.8	Thanks for joining us, Joe. Thanks for having, Lisa. So, Joe, let's expand on the scenario.
1:18.5	Scenarios I just explained. What could happen during a deep sea equipment failure?
1:24.9	Well, Lisa, we don't have to imagine what could happen. It wasn't too long ago
1:28.7	when we had an accident in the deep ocean, the deep water horizon accident in the Macondo well,
1:34.6	where for days it was leaking lots of oil into the ocean and caused a big environmental disaster
1:40.3	and cost billions of dollars. Those are the types of things that we're trying to prevent
1:44.2	in the ocean simulation lab. So just to refresh our memories here, that deep water horizon
1:49.8	spill happened in April 2010, and it was an oil drilling rig that was operating in the Gulf. It
1:57.2	exploded and sank, and 11 people died. So really, when this equipment fails, it could be catastrophic on many levels.
	...

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