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and
I
n early June,
LNG Industry
exhibited at the CWC World
LNG & Gas Series 14
th
Americas Summit in Houston,
Texas, alongside a number of familiar faces. However,
some of you may be surprised to learn that representatives
from NASA were exhibiting next to our stand. Researchers
from Glenn Research Center (GRC) – one of ten major NASA
centres, whose primary mission is to design, develop and test
innovative technology for aeronautics and spaceflight – were
on hand to discuss the current design and concept for a
one-year exploration mission of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Back in 2005, data from the Cassini-Huygens mission (a
cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency
and the Italian Space Agency) revealed that Titan resembles
a frozen version of Earth, with seas of methane and ethane,
which are replenished by rain from hydrocarbon clouds.
Now, NASA is preparing for arguably its most daring
mission yet: to send a submarine to explore Kraken Mare,
Titan’s largest northern sea. The plan is for the submarine to
dive below the surface of the cryogenic sea to investigate
oceanographic phenomena including the chemical
composition of the liquid, surface and subsurface currents, as
well as tides, wind and waves. The sub will also sample the silt
that has been resting at the bottom of the sea for thousands
of years. Ultimately, the mission may hold the answer as to
whether extraterrestrial life exists in the galaxy. Scientists
currently believe that some sort of liquid is essential for life. As
the only other place in our solar system that is known to have
liquids flowing across its surface, Titan is a prime candidate for
such life.
The fact that Titan’s liquid methane seas are quite similar
in composition to LNG found here on Earth means that
the project represents a unique design and development
opportunity for the LNG industry. As Dr Jason Hartwig,
NASA GRC, explained in an email to
LNG Industry
: “All of
the components on the sub must be LNG-rated; everything
from simple valves and compressors, to the ballast system,
shell and propellors.” He continues: “If the sub goes through
standard tech maturation as any other vehicle or space
hardware, there could be plenty of development work and
opportunities for LNG companies to partner with us, run tests
of their own, perform analysis, [become a] co-investigator on
future proposals, help us with demonstration tests, etc.”
The project is still in its infancy and there are plenty of
engineering challenges to overcome, including the fact that
there is a little more nitrogen dissolved in Titan’s seas, due to
the higher atmospheric pressure on the moon. This has led
to concerns that the submarine’s radioactive-isotope power
supply could warm the seas and cause the nitrogen to ‘fizz’,
which may interfere with sonar measurements. However,
there is still plenty of time for these concerns to be ironed
out, with launch not expected until some time in the 2030s.
Dr Hartwig added: “We went to the conference to basically
introduce the sub and make the stakeholders aware of what is
coming. Who knows, it could be LNG companies who end up
building the submarine.”
In the meantime, there are plenty of extreme challenges
currently facing the LNG industry back on planet Earth. This
issue of
LNG Industry
includes a special new ‘Extreme’ feature
starting on p.33, which puts the spotlight on some of the most
challenging projects in our industry; from safe and reliable
transportation of LNG through Arctic waters, through to burst
detection systems in harsh operating environments and fire
safety practices on floating LNG (FLNG) vessels.
If you have your own ‘Extreme’ story to tell, please
get in touch. And if you’d like to learn more about NASA’s
Titan Submarine project, visit:
/
content/titan-submarine-exploring-the-depths-of-kraken/#.
V3E5nXquPTA
