Defence & Naval

Watertight Integrity Monitoring

We have developed the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PRO. The Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PRO is an ultrasonic instrument used for the location and quantification of leak-sites in watertight compartment Multiple Cable Transit Areas and Watertight Compartment Doors at sea, but more importantly and uniquely, we have designed the instrument with the capability to calculate the water flow rate through them in the event of compartment flooding, to enhance and advance Damage Control and Safety & Survivability in warships and submarines. We developed this with the purpose of contributing to the internal “damage control battle” of Naval warships to save the ship at the damage moment.

The key advantages of the Portascanner® Watertight PRO are:

• Identification and location of the leak-site, accurate quantification of its size, the extent of each leak in terms of leak surface area,
• As well as the predicted water ingress and flow rate through the leak-site
• A built-in 8-megapixel camera to photograph structures and record the location of each leak for future reference
• The ability to automatically generate and export reports, filtered to a user’s choice of date, site, room, and structure
• A variable output power of generator and improved stability of the generated signal, to allow detection and quantification of leaks no matter the size of the structure or compartment
• The receiving unit is contained within an ergonomic, tablet-based format

It is designed to be used to identify, measure, and remedy potential leak-sites in and around the personnel-carrying vehicle compartment, crew compartments, and the engine compartment. This platform can measure the leak area during inspection and calculate the total flow rates of water which would ingress under different water pressures and sea states. This allows a unique ability to quantify the risk to specific areas in a structure.

1. Contents Monitoring of Liquified Gaseous Extinguishing Systems

These are liable to slow seepage or accidental discharge; if the contents do not exist, the design concentration cannot be developed to extinguish a ship or submarine fire and challenging to test at sea where they are most-necessary. Liquified Fixed Gaseous Extinguishing Systems, such as Halon, CO2, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230, are gases stored at very high pressures, making them liable to slow seepage and accidental discharge; if the contents fall below their ability to deliver the design concentration required, the remaining extinguishing gas will not extinguish the fire event. IMO SOLAS II/21.3 state that the crew must have the means to, “periodically test the watertight doors and all mechanisms at least once a week”. IMO SOLAS Fire Suppressions Safety Code state that the “crew must have the means to test the contents” its fixed extinguishing systems at sea, for this. This is the reason why we designed the Portalevel® MAX MARINE PLUS hand-held instrument, enabling the crew to test for the contents of liquefied CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 Clean Agent extinguishing systems to an accuracy of +/-1.5mm, contained within the highly pressurised gases contained within their large cylinders.

The key advantages of Portalevel® MAX PLUS include:

• Having a quick and easy to use crew-use liquid level indicator as a highly accurate 1/8” accurate and efficient way of delivering better fire safety onboard and protecting the fleet.
• NATO Stock and IMPA Purchasing Nos, ABS Type-Approved and manufactured to UL certification.
• A new user interface so that Naval Marine Engineers can “see” the gas/liquid interface

1. Contents Monitoring of Non-Liquefied Gaseous Extinguishing Systems

For 4 years we have been designing the means for a Naval Crew to monitor the contents of their Non-liquefied fixed fire Gaseous Extinguishing Systems containing the non-liquefied gas, Inergen™ and which sometimes replaces the liquefied gaseous extinguishants such as Halon or NOVEC™ 1230. Inergen™ is typically stored in 45KG/100lb cylinders at pressures between of up to 300 Bar. At such pressures they are also subject to slow seepage of contents or occasionally accidental discharge. If the gas is insufficient at sea to develop the design concentration required, the fire event will not be extinguished. The land-based fire industry who install the systems leave the maritime user dependent on the dockside maintenance and pressure gauges to monitor pressure, but this does not enable the warship or submarine to monitor the contents at sea. Our instrument allows Navies to monitor both at sea, so that the integrity of the Inergen™ system can be maintained by the crew who depend on it.

The key advantages of Portagas® are:

• Intelligent and automatic determination whether an observed change in pressure is due to changing temperatures or a loss of contents
• Effortlessly tracking maintenance by saving and reporting records straight from the instrument.
• Detects even minor changes in the internal pressure, with precision comfortably exceeding the 5-10% agent and pressure loss thresholds cited in regulations such as NFPA 2001 and ISO 14520
• Portagas® analyses the resonance of the cylinder quantitively, through a combination of sophisticated signal processing and data

Customer Reference List:

• US Department of Defence
• Royal Airforce
• Royal Navy
• US Navy
• US Coastguard
• Indian Navy
• Hong Kong Fire Service
• Canadian Navy
• Spanish Navy
• Royal Malaysian Navy
• Irish Navy
• Israeli Navy