Ulmatec Presents New Baro DefCon System

The introduction of the new Baro DefCon System for remote control of Barovane seismic deflectors makes it possible for clients to pursue marine seismic acquisition over a larger area in less time. Conservative estimates already indicate savings of some 600 tonnes of fuel per year for a seismic survey vessel.

“We regard two hours of increased uptime per day and an average reduction of five per cent in fuel consumption as a gift from us to the seismic survey industry,” says Odd Bjørn Jensen, sales and marketing director of Baro.“ This also has an environmental benefit, of course.”

The Barovane is Baro´s best-known product. Since its introduction in the mid-1980s, this brand name has become virtually synonymous with seismic deflectors.

“That’s understandable when you take account the Barovane’s efficiency and stability,” says Mr Jensen. He reports that on-going development of this product has played a key role in spreading cables and sources – as shown by the substantial number of vanes in daily operation.

“The Baro DefCon System will enable clients to control Barovanes remotely,” he says. “In terms of increased efficiency, this is probably our greatest achievement since the introduction of the Barovane.”

During marine seismic acquisition, a wide tow of seismic sources and streamer cables covers a large area (with present widths of up to 1.5 kilometres and usual lengths of four to 12 kilometres). Barovanes spread cables and sources.

“While covering the survey area, one of the main challenges is to reduce the time required for line changes –turning the vessel, including the wide tow,” Mr Jensen explains. “This normally takes three-four hours, and is repeated ​​two-three times a day. The Baro DefCon system could reduce each turn by as much as an hour.”

Until now, the problem during towing has been that the outermost Barovane gets too much load, running the risk of equipment fatigue, while the innermost Barovane may experience such low angle of attack that it loses its grip.

By controlling the angle of attack for the Barovanes, the user can reduce the load on the outer deflector so that it is able run at up to the design speed of 4.5 knots through the turn, while the inner one can increase its angle of attack to ensure that grip is maintained.

“The remote control capability allows the user to set of the angle of attack of the Barovanes, permitting a narrower turn at higher speed,” says Mr Jensen.

“By cutting line change time, this gives up to two hours of increased production per 24 hours. With 80-90 per cent efficient operation during the year, a vessel which normally consumes 30-40 tonnes of fuel a day can achieve an estimated saving of about 600 tonnes of fuel per annum.”

Other features of the Baro DefCon System include a generator set mounted on the Barovane to make the system self-sufficient with power. It has low weight and is fail-safe.

This means that any system failure will still leave the Barovane fully operational by mechanically returning to peak spreading – in other words, the same way a Barovane works today.

The Baro DefCon system is suitable for retrofitting on existing Barovanes by replacing the middle section and upgrading the float. This can easily be done during routine replacement of the Barovanes.

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Source: Ulmatec , October 5, 2011