Category: Updates
The men at Applied Acoustic Engineering in Great Yarmouth, UK, really got behind the Movember charity campaign this year by challenging each other to find out who could grow the best moustache, raising loads of money in the process. The winner was Design Engineering Manager Mark Cameron, who surprised everyone with his suave Sean Connery-esque result.
“A few of us here at Applied Acoustics found it a bit of a struggle at first, but the charity has such great intentions to fight cancers that affect men, that we carried on for the month and raised more than £600 between us, so it was worth all the irritation and mockery.” said Mark.
Any friends and customers in the subsea industry can still donate by logging on to www.movember.com selecting the Donate button and typing in the team name, Applied Acoustics.
Sonar Equipment Services of Great Yarmouth, UK, have recently added the new Applied Acoustics’ CSP-N seismic power supply to its equipment pool. The 1200 Joule reverse polarity unit selected by Sonar Equipment will operate a variety of Applied Acoustics’ sound sources including the triple boomer plate S-Boom System, single plate boomers and the new long-life Dura-Spark 240. This novel catamaran based sparker assembly has extremely durable electrodes that rarely need replacing and is ideal for high and ultra high resolution geophysical surveys.
Sales and Operations Manager Neil Jackson quickly recognised the advantages of the new power supply, “We’re really pleased to offer this truly versatile seismic power supply to our customers across the world,” he said, “it’s got all the high quality features and high safety standards that Applied Acoustics products have established over the last two decades or more, as well as the flexibility to work with a variety of sound sources, including the latest models.”
The CSP-N1200 is a compact 7U unit supplied in a durable transit case. It not only incorporates a unique negative voltage output but also proprietary Variable Input Power Circuitry facilitating a ‘soft-start’ to ease generator load.
Sonar Equipment Services’ CSP-N1200 has already been used as the power supply of choice on a number of seismic sub-bottom profiling site surveys and is now placed with their S-Boom System over at rental partners Oceanvision Equipment Services in Singapore, to support customers in South East Asia and Western Australia regions.
Increased demand for the company’s products has necessitated the installation of a further calibration tank at Applied Acoustics’ Great Yarmouth facility. The new tank will enable production schedules to keep pace with additional customer requirements for advanced subsea acoustic positioning products that are calibrated prior to shipment to check acoustic integrity.
UK Sales Advisor Julian Rickards commented, “As standard procedure we undertake a set of rigorous performance checks including a full hemisphere test to confirm all acoustic products meet specification at multiple angles and across a range of frequency channels, so the new tank will enable us to satisfy this increased customer demand efficiently whilst maintaining stock levels.
The meticulous checks eliminate the possibility of even slight ‘blind spots’ during subsea operations, and give the users complete confidence in system performance.” he added.
Strong sales growth that has taken place in existing markets, new geographical regions and applications, has not only required extra testing and production facilities but also an increase in personnel, up more than 10% from last year.
Director Tom Nicols of Geomatrix was delighted to take delivery of his company’s first CSP seismic energy source from Applied Acoustics at Ocean Business in Southampton recently. Geomatrix, based in Leighton Buzzard, UK, specialise in the sale and rental of an extensive range of land and marine geophysical products so the new energy source provides a welcome addition to its oceanographic equipment rental pool.
Applied Acoustics manufactures a variety of systems for sub-bottom profiling that extend in output from 50 to 12,000J. The 1200J unit selected by Geomatrix will operate with various Applied Acoustics’ sound sources including the triple boomer plate, the S-Boom, and the new long-life Dura-Spark 240 in the future. Its flexibility means that just one power unit is available for high resolution and deep penetration geotechnical surveys in near shore or deeper water.
“We’re very excited about being able to offer this versatile equipment with its high standards of performance and numerous safety features to our clients. It complements the marine data acquisition options we have available to geophysical engineers investigating seabed characteristics,” said Tom Nicols, “and we fully expect it to become a key ‘workhorse’, supplying our customers with many of their seismic energy needs.”
Applied Acoustics introduced its evolutionary new sparker at Ocean Business in Southampton. The Dura-Spark 240, the latest in a long line of seismic sound sources manufactured by the company, offers high resolution sub-bottom data, up to 25cm, in water depths up to 1000m.
The new Dura-Spark has been designed to provide a stable, repeatable sound source for sub-bottom geophysical surveys. Its new features include long life, durable electrodes that produce a consistent pulse signature and keep operational maintenance to a minimum. This provides increased equipment reliability and survey efficiency as the sparker tips rarely need replacement.
Flexibility is achieved by having 3 arrays of 80 tips allowing the operator to tune the source from the vessel to its application. In addition, a selectable source depth allows the sparker to be used in both shallow and deep waters.
The new Dura-Spark is based on the CAT300 catamaran that provides a stable platform whilst under tow and is easily deployed from all survey vessels. Its seismic power is supplied by the Applied Acoustics CSP-N, an industry leading design with exceptional safety standards, offering 2000J/s peak discharge rate.
The Dura-Spark 240 is ideal for high and ultra-high resolution geophysical surveys for both single and multi-channel data acquisition. Now with long life, durable electrodes the Dura-Spark 240 will set new standards for quality and reliability together with unparalleled operational cost savings.
Applied Acoustic Engineering reports that two major product launches are planned for this year’s Ocean Business Conference, both of which are to be demonstrated on board their dedicated survey vessel, the Coral Wind.
In a shift away from their traditional sub-bottom profiling assemblies, AAE will be debuting their latest sparker system, featuring an advanced version of the market leading CSP energy source along with non-wearing and long lasting sparker electrodes on a new Squid sound source. Designed to minimise the downtime associated with planned maintenance, AAE’s latest concept will provide operational cost savings alongside the company’s dual standards of quality and reliability.
Additionally, Applied Acoustics will launch a new acoustic positioning system to facilitate the accurate relocation of marked subsea targets. Utilising 2-way spread spectrum signal processing within the smallest possible enclosure, this latest development promises unparalleled cost efficiencies for operations where targets are deployed for short periods.
“We’ve designed this new system to obtain vital positioning data for a multitude of everyday subsea operations that include running ocean bottom seismic cables, the position of seismic nodes, and metocean strings like tide gauges and current profilers,“ explained Technical Manager Neil MacDonald, “but with such an easy-to-use, flexible arrangement, intuitive software and a remarkable positioning performance, there are endless applications.”
Also on the stand will be new units from the company’s Fatboy and Seabed range of beacons now with Spread Spectrum technology for added accuracy, and running demonstrations of the latest upgrades to the Easytrak Lite and Nexus software.
Applied Acoustic Engineering, a market leading manufacturer of subsea positioning and seabed survey equipment, has recently appointed a new distributor in Australia. The company, Western Advance pty Ltd, is an independent supplier to the oil and gas, defence and security industries, based in Perth, Western Australia. As well as providing project design, equipment supply, installation, commissioning and field support to diverse Australian companies, Western Advance is a specialist distributor to the Offshore Survey and Construction industry.
“ Western Advance is very pleased to be appointed the regional representative in Australia for Applied Acoustics,” said Nick Goodwin, the company’s Sales Manager, “ With our dedicated sales and engineering teams and the synergy with our other business interests we expect to see strong growth for the Applied Acoustics brand here in Australia.”
Applied Acoustics Sales Manager, Gavin Willoughby, was equally enthusiastic about the new distributors. “The appointment of highly reputable, specialist organisations to represent us is vital to our overall sales strategy, so we are delighted to welcome Western Advance to our team,” he stated, “It will strengthen our presence in Australia and bring the Applied Acoustics portfolio of quality engineered products to the attention of existing and new customers alike.”
Event Date: 27 Nov
Applied Acoustic Engineering (AAE) based in Great Yarmouth, UK, recently sold its 200th USBL system to rental company Sonar Equipment Services (SES), coincidentally also based in the town. The sale was celebrated with a short ceremony and presentation by AAE’s Sales Advisor Julian Rickards to SES’s Managing Director, Scott Johnstone. The system bought was the Spread Spectrum rack-mount Easytrak Nexus USBL, the fifth purchased by the company, destined for its rental pool. This product, one of a range of USBL tracking systems manufactured by Applied Acoustics, incorporates digital spread spectrum technology that reduces the transmitted acoustic signals’ susceptibility to interference.
“The Nexus system is very popular with our clients,” said Scott, “because it meets their needs well in a variety of applications – though I’m aware it’s a particularly outstanding positioning system in shallow water, traditionally a challenging environment, where its performance exceeds expectations.”
Julian Rickards was delighted with the sale. “We’ve sold our USBL systems right across the globe from Canada to New Zealand and all points between, so when the 200th order landed on my desk I knew it was an event worth marking with an invitation to Scott.”
This sale builds on the products’ already excellent track record,”he added, “and reinforces the Easytrak Nexus as the first choice for many customers and rental companies alike.”
Applied Acoustic Engineering has strengthened its Sales team with appointment of Julian Rickards as Technical Sales Advisor. Julian has more than 15 years experience within the industry with Acoustic and Inertial manufacturers so brings a wealth of valuable expertise to the company, including time spent operating positioning equipment offshore.
“I’ve admired Applied Acoustics for some time, not only for the quality of the products but also its top class customer service, “explained Julian, “so I’m delighted to be joining the company, taking on new responsibilities and contributing to its ambitious growth agenda.”
Commenting on the appointment Gavin Willoughby, Sales Manager, stated that, “Julian is an excellent addition to Applied Acoustics. His extensive knowledge, technical capability and strong personal understanding of this industry will be invaluable to us as we develop new markets and increase our product portfolio.”
Applied Acoustic Engineering, based in Great Yarmouth UK, is a leading manufacturer of innovative, high performance products for subsea positioning, tracking and seismic sub-bottom profiling. Supported by a formidable engineering design team, in-house manufacturing capability and extensive overseas network of distributors, this appointment will maintain its position at the forefront of subsea technologies.
A contract for the supply of underwater tracking systems to be used by the US Navy in mine clearance operations has been awarded to Applied Acoustic Engineering Ltd, Great Yarmouth UK, by ATLAS North America (ATLAS NA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Elektronik GmbH of Bremen, Germany. The Applied Acoustics’ military grade Easytrak USBL tracking system will be integrated into the SeaFox™ mine neutralisation system supplied by ATLAS NA under contract to Lockheed Martin Corporation. The SeaFox™ system addresses an urgent operational need from U.S. Navy Central Command for more effective mine countermeasure systems to be installed on its Avenger-class ships and MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters.
Seafox™ is an expendable, remotely operated underwater vehicle containing an explosive warhead used to neutralise the target mine. The Seafox™ vehicle is guided to the target from the parent ship or helicopter using a combination of Applied Acoustics’ Easytrak and the vehicle’s own on-board sonar. Easytrak utilises a multi-element, single transducer to send and receive acoustic signals underwater from which range, bearing and depth information can be determined.
The Applied Acoustics’ contract to supply Easytrak USBL systems for the advanced Seafox™ mine disposal vehicles to be used by the US Navy follows its earlier success supplying the Royal Navy’s Hunt and Sandown class mine counter measure vessels, and similar contracts with other European naval forces.
Batoil Services Nigeria Limited based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, has recently purchased an Applied Acoustics’ USBL tracking system to add to its equipment pool. Amongst its other company functions such as corrosion control and inspection services, Batoil is a leading supplier of equipment and services used during pipeline route, engineering and hydrographic surveys for the Nigerian oil industry.
Bamidele Olagunju, Managing Director at Batoil Services Nigeria Limited selected the Applied Acoustics’ Easytrtak Lite USBL positioning system for a particular contract the company secured with Kaztec Engineering Ltd. This was to provide accurate underwater positions of a variety of pipeline crossings in the Addax OML 123 Field, so that large concrete mattresses could be placed over for protection.
The Easytrak USBL underwater positioning and tracking system is centred on a multi-element, single transducer that transmits and receives acoustic signals to dynamic subsea targets from which range, bearing and depth information can be determined. For the Kaztec Engineering project the underwater target to be tracked was the company’s sub-bottom profiler used to locate pipelines on, or often under, the seabed. By attaching an Applied Acoustics 1019 Mini Beacon to the towed unit and interfacing the system with GPS and gyro compass, the precise position of the pipelines could be established with a high degree of accuracy, sub one metre. Armed with this information, the large concrete mattresses could be placed in the correct positions, as confirmed by divers during installation, adding to overall operational efficiency.
“We aim to source equipment that can provide innovative solutions for our clients’ many challenges,” said Mr Olagunju, “and we found the Easytrak Lite system very user friendly and easy to set-up, so it fitted the bill perfectly. We’re delighted that our clients were satisfied with the accuracy of the positioning results obtained.”
Titan Survey has been involved in marine surveys both in the UK and worldwide for over 30 years and is increasingly involved in offshore renewable energy schemes, particularly wind farm projects, where an accurate interrogation of the subsea geology is so crucial to turbine foundation design, as well as route selection for the cabling to shore. The company has found the Applied Acoustics seismic survey equipment, the CSP energy supply and sound source known as a boomer, particularly useful for this near shore sub-bottom survey work.
“We use an Applied Acoustics bang box and boomer catamaran for a number of different applications and a variety of marine environments from shallow highly turbid esturine waters to deep clear water with strong currents or even high sediment mobility areas such as the Bristol Channel,” said Chief Surveyor Matt Ireson, “so we absolutely know the versatility of this equipment, but its overriding asset is its small size and weight and how easy it is to switch by hand between vessels. Operating primarily off our small boats, between 9 and 15m, means that we’re quick to mobilise and can easily make use of any third party vessels, allowing an efficient service to our clients.”
Titan’s recent purchase of two further compact CSP-P bang boxes confirms its confidence in the Applied Acoustics’ systems that enable the company to quickly deploy a survey team to any site in the UK and beyond in response to its varied work load.
Being able to offer this sort of flexibility and efficiency alongside excellent data quality has enabled Titan Survey to offer its services to over 20 offshore wind farm projects, including most recently the huge Dogger Bank project, 60 miles east of Scarborough where the surveyors made use of a 1000J seismic power source from Applied Acoustics. If the plans for this windfarm come to fruition some 1800 off-shore turbines will be installed to supply electricity to seven million homes.
In addition to offshore windfarm site pre and post construction surveys, Titan uses its boomer set up to provide sub-surface shallow penetration geology data for many different marine engineering projects such
as cable route and cable landfalls, pipeline routes, tidal lagoon reservoir site surveys and preliminary site surveys for tidal stream turbines. Well suited to Titan’s requirements, this compact sub-bottom profiling equipment sits within the company’s extensive equipment pool that includes tools for hydrometric and marine benthic surveys, as well as equipment for geophysical, hydrographic and topographic coastal surveys.
“These two new seismic power units are considerably smaller than other versions so they offer us the space saving and flexibility we seek without any loss of data quality.” said Matt, “With no reduction in the features offered they are ideal for us.”
The CSP-P unit from Applied Acoustics is part of a family of sub-bottom profiling systems that range in output from 50 to 12,000 Joules. Similar units to the ones owned by Titan Surveys are in operation across the globe for similar surveys in locations such as off Canada’s Atlantic coast, the Baltic and South China Sea.