The Ballast System for the 'Harmony' Deep Manned Submersible

摘要

A ballast system is introduced in the paper, which has been applied in the HOV of Harmony that can perform scientific survey and sampling underwater 7000m. The system consists of the jettisoning devices for manipulators, main battery case and releasable ballast respectively. Among these, the function and mechanism of releasable ballast device which can be used in normal or emergency ascent conditions is explained in detail. As it is different with other submersibles', the device is operated by the electromagnet or the hydraulic power which release the weights with a high mechanical leverage. At last, the design considerations for ballast devices are described.