/ 



/ 





the area b'eneath the Gulf Stream is of this nature. It may be that 

 other comstraints may also direct OTEC plant siting in this direction; 

 for example, if burial of an electric power cable to shore is necessary, 

 then siting on unconsolidated sediment would be a necessity. 



Anchor Selection 



Reliable, long-lasting anchor systems capable of maintaining the 

 OTEC power plant on station in a single- or multiple-point moor are 

 technically feasible. 



The free-fall-emplaced deadweight anchor for use on soil seafloors 

 is very attractive because it does not require any specialized ship I 

 support except the ocean-going tugs required to tow it to the proposed 

 anchor location. Because almort all of the proposed OTEC plant loca- 

 tions are in areas having soil seafloors, the free-fall-emplaced dead- 

 weight anchor merits high development priority. Procedures for pre- 

 dicting the forces on the free-fall anchor should be assembled and 

 verified by model tests of reliable scale. A near-prototype-scale 

 free-fall anchor should be fabricated, transported, installed, and 

 test-loaded, if possible, to verify all aspects of the free-fall anchor 

 system. 



Installation of the free-fall-emplaced anchor may not be feasible 

 on hard seafloors, especially on exposed rock. The lateral holding 

 capacity efficiencies and general performance of deadweight anchors on 

 such seafloors (especially uneven seafloors) are not attractive. If 

 OTEC anchor siting on a hard seafloor area is absolucely necessary, then 

 a specialized pile anchor group installed by drillship could be used. 

 Development work on a pile anchor system shuiild be deferred until a 

 necessary site floored with near surface or exposed rock has been identi- 

 fied. Deferral is prudent at this time (1) because the authors antici- 

 pate that most such sites can be avoided with an overall cost savings 

 and (2) because the design of the pile system will be largely site 

 specific with minimal benefit derived from a generalized study. 



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