Makai's Ocean Technology Newsletter

Semi-Annual Newsletter

ALOHA!

As we’ve bid 2018 farewell, here are some quick updates on what Makai was up to last year.

Makai’s cable group continues to improve our subsea cable planning and installation software, and maintain its position as the #1 software solution on the market. Makai has started working with offshore wind developers in order to reduce the risk of power cable damage and failure.

Makai’s subsea pipeline group has been hard at work on an industrial cooling water intake in New York, and an outfall repair project.

Makai has been awarded and started work on several task orders under the Oceans Multiple Award Contract (OMAC), IDIQ contract with the Navy. Makai has also recently hired a new program manager, working out of our California office.

As part of Makai’s efforts in the ocean energy sector, we are currently involved in two seawater air conditioning projects for remote island military bases in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, in addition to our work on the DoE ARPA-E MARINER offshore macroalgae program.

Be sure to take a look at the current openings, and keep an eye on our employment webpage for future opportunities.

We hope you enjoy!

With Aloha,

The MOE Team

www.makai.com

Makai Software to Support Offshore Wind Power Cable

Makai’s experience in subsea cable planning is leveraged to select the wind farm’s location

Makai recently worked with a prominent offshore wind developer, and provided export power cable planning and support for an offshore wind project slated to be installed off the south coast of Oahu, Hawaii.

Although offshore wind has been growing at a steady rate in the international market, it has only recently gained traction in US. While the offshore cable typically accounts for less than 10% of total project costs for these types of developments, they are the cause of nearly 90% of all repair costs. As offshore wind moves into deeper waters, with floating wind becoming more prominent, cable failures are only expected to increase. Makai’s cable planning and installation software will be crucial in reducing the rate of cable failures by way of proper route planning and engineering.

Contact Makai about your Subsea Telecom or Power Cable Project!

Seawater Air Conditioning to Efficiently Cool Remote Islands

The SWAC systems for these remote military bases are expected to have more than 50% electricity savings compared to conventional chillers.

Islands and atolls near the equator are ideal for the implementation of SWAC because of their large air conditioning requirements, access to deep seawater, and the high cost of electricity. These small islands are generally powered by diesel, which is transported by vessels. This makes the cost of electricity very high, and makes SWAC an economically viable alternative.

Makai’s engineers have recently completed the design of a SWAC system for a remote island military base in the Pacific Ocean. The SWAC system is part of a larger Energy Saving Performance Contract (ESPC) aimed to significantly reduce energy consumption and cost; improve reliability of utility systems, equipment, and systems serving the base. The energy saving technologies deployed contribute toward energy resiliency; reduce maintenance and repair costs; and improve occupant comfort. The system provides air conditioning to more than 100 buildings, with over 4,000 tons of cooling. SWAC is expected to decrease cooling energy usage for these buildings by more than 50%. This equals roughly 2,000 gallons of diesel saved per day! The project is now out to bid for construction, and is expected to start construction in late 2019.

Makai has been awarded a contract to conduct a feasibility study, preliminary design, and bid support services for a SWAC system on another remote island base in the Indian Ocean. Like the project in the Pacific, this project is also in support of an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) being conducted to increase the base's energy efficiency.

Contact Makai to discuss your SWAC project today!

Cooling Water Intake for Industrial Manufacturing Facility

Makai’s intake design meets screening requirements while limiting head loss.

Makai recently completed the preliminary design of a river water intake for an industrial manufacturing facility in New York. Makai modified the intake design to work with the existing pump station and intake pipeline while minimizing head loss. As part of this project, Makai iteratively designed the intake using CFD analysis to determine the best configuration of the intake screens and structure.

Similar to the Cayuga cooling water intake project completed last year, this project was initiated to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s 316(b) regulations. This law is intended to reduce the environmental impact of facilities intaking more than 2 million gallons of water per day from the environment by regulating the intake flow. Many cooling water intake systems put aquatic species and their eggs at risk of harm or death by being pulled into the cooling system, or being trapped against the intake screens. More than 1000 facilities nationwide are estimated to be currently operating outside of the acceptable intake limits and require corrective action to meet EPA regulations.

Outfall Pipe Repair

Makai's engineers are experts in seawater pipeline design, including designs for piepline repairs.

Makai just wrapped up the design for repair of an outfall pipe. The original 16-inch diameter HDPE outfall pipe was installed in the early 1990s. The original, over 8000-foot long, pipe is still in use, retaining damage due to regular use to only a short section.

Makai was called in for emergency repairs on this project, as our engineers are highly experienced in HDPE pipeline design. Makai’s repair solution included replacing 700-800 feet of the pipe that includes the damaged section, with new modern HDPE pipe that uses much stronger resin.

Interested in learning more about Makai's pipeline experience?

Makai Awarded 4 Task Orders Under OMAC IDIQ

Ocean cables are one of the primary task areas for this new contract with NAVFAC EXWC; a tow cable ship is pictured here for testing done under a recently awarded task order.

Makai has been awarded four task orders for general ocean engineering services under the OMAC3 IDIQ contract awarded to Makai earlier this year. One of which being a near $10M contract for the design and delivery of a lightweight seafloor cable system, that was awarded near the end of December. The work is in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) and is performed worldwide.

Phase II Effort for Remote Subsea Micropile Installation System

Makai is continuing its effort with University of Hawaii’s Applied Research Lab to develop a remotely operated subsea micropile system for improved mooring of marine hydrokinetic systems. The team’s successful Phase I effort proved the feasibility of the system concept. Makai’s Phase II effort will focus on further development, prototyping, and testing of subsystems including the micropile drilling and grouting systems. The issue with many wave energy devices is that they have significant mooring requirements due to the harsh environment. Makai’s goal in developing this mooring method is to create a system that will significantly reduce capital costs involved in wave energy devices and other applications requiring subsea mooring.

The goal of this project is to provide a robust mooring system that has superior strength over traditional spars and other systems, while reducing installation costs and system size. Makai’s system will also improve crew safety by eliminating the need for divers.

Makai Wins State Grant to Support Temperature Sensing Cable Development

Makai’s cable designs have an optical fiber outside of the protective strength members to better measure seawater temperature.

Makai recently won the HSBIR Phase I grant from the State of Hawaii, Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) to further develop our temperature sensing tow cable system. The grant will assist Makai in purchasing equipment and allocate additional engineering time for further development and component level testing in hopes of securing a Phase II contract.

The temperature sensing cable is being developed under a Navy Phase I SBIR. The embedded fiber optic cable in conjunction with fiber optic interrogation methods will enable real time water temperature measurements along the entire cable length for surface vessels. This technology will eliminate the need for predictive modeling systems currently used and improve accuracy of seawater temperatures.

Makai would like to say mahalo to HTDC for this grant and the continued support. Their support assists Makai in creating highly technical jobs for local engineers, and bring our innovative technologies to the global market.

ARPA-E Biofuel Production from Macroalgae

Preliminary concept designs of macroalgae farm and pump station.

Makai’s efforts in the ARPA-E Mariner and Blue Fields programs are a promising solution for efficiently growing macroalgae offshore. Makai’s work so far has largely been modeling the technoeconomics and nutrient dispersion of the project. Makai’s computer modeling evaluates the benefits that deep, nutrient rich waters have on the production of macroalgae. The purpose of Makai’s technoeconomic modeling is to analyze the offshore farm, harvesting, and fuel production as a whole to reduce the cost involved in this alternative form of energy.

Based on the modeling results Makai has developed concepts for the farm, wave pump and seeding mechanism. An initial wave pump prototype was tested off of the pier and a prototype for the seeding mechanism is currently being built.

The next step in this project will be to develop a final design, and deploy a prototype system that is to be moored in about 120m water depth.

Employee Spotlight:

Alex Le Bon, P.E.

Mechanical Engineer

Alex joined Makai in 2011 as a mechanical engineer. Alex attended University of Hawaii, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Following his graduation in 2010, Alex worked as a design and test engineer of unmanned aerial vehicles before landing at Makai. In addition to holding a M.S. degree in mechanical engineering, Alex is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the State of Hawaii.

Alex’s role at Makai for the last 7 years has been as a mechanical engineer responsible for tasks such as hydro-mechanical modelling, mechanical design, finite element analysis, testing, and evaluation on various projects. He has acted as the lead engineer for several large cooling water intake design projects two of which are the Cayuga Intake and more recently the industrial cooling project mentioned above. In addition to his work in pipeline design, Alex has been part of Makai’s R&D group where he works on design, modeling, and testing of towed arrays, fiber optic systems, and underwater vehicles for DoD applications. Alex’s work in Makai’s office in Kona included performance testing of heat exchangers for OTEC and led the experimentation and measurement equipment design for the seawater corrosion lab.

When Alex is not at work on the pier, he is usually outdoors. Whether he be diving, surfing, hiking, climbing, or bike riding, Alex takes advantage of all Hawaii has to offer.

What are you working on?

If you have a project related to the ocean, we can probably help.
We are nimble, creative, cost-effective, and most importantly, our designs last.
We'd love to discuss your project that might involve:

Subsea Pipe / Cable Systems

Pipeline designs
Cable designs
Micro fiber optic cable systems
Cable planning and installation software and services
Survey support

Energy Systems

Cooling water intake and screen designs
Heat exchangers
Bottoming cycle power plant designs
Energy storage designs
Offshore wind / wave / tidal engineering
District cooling designs
Engineering & economic modeling

Marine Vehicles & Buoys

Underwater vehicle design
Sonobuoy component design
Submarine Launch, Recovery, Transport vehicles
Naval architecture

General Engineering Support

Corrosion R&D and testing
Materials Testing
Environmental consulting
Physics-based modeling
Software development
GIS software and services
Value engineering

Please call or email us today for a free consultation about your project.

Contact one of Makai's Ocean Engineers!