Potential inspection, maintenance and repair techniques for the OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) systems

One of the major post-installation considerations of the OTEC platforms is the performance of underwater inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) during their 30-year design life. In order to assist in the conceptual development of an IMR program, this study was undertaken using the two OTEC candidate configurations as a baseline. The objectives of the study were: conduct an inventory of underwater Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) devices including a description of their performance capabilities, dimensional data, the areas of the various structures where they are most applicable, and a narrative description of the level of performance capabilities, dimensional data, the areas of the various structures where they are most appliable and a narrative description of the level of performance they have attained to date, and to conduct an inventory of NDE device deployment vehicles.