Masteriti
09-12-24, 12:01 PM
Hello, I'm currently in the early stages of developing a submarine simulator with a pretty extreme focus on realism in terms of the submarine's design and physics. The sub is fictional and of my own design, and right now I'm pretty lost on how to design a realistic and believable ballast system and the corresponding BCP for it. It's supposed to be a cold war era midget sub loosely based on the NR-1, being about 45 ft. in length having two main ballast tanks and two trim tanks (one of each aft and forward of course). I have a very long list of questions about ballast systems on submarines, and I've found few answers online after months of scraping the web for information. My understanding is that for main ballast tanks, there are dedicated pipes for flooding water and venting water; when an MBT is flooded, the valves in the flooding pipes are opened so seawater can enter the tank at a controlled rate, and when venting, compressed air is released into the MBT while valves in the venting pipes are open, expelling the seawater. Meanwhile, trim tanks are typically in a closed system that share supply of freshwater, with a pump in between them that distributes the water between the two, although I've heard that on some subs they can also be vented as part of an emergency blow procedure. If I'm incorrect about any of this or you have more to add, please comment!
Here are my first questions related to this regarding submarines in general, but if you have specifics on smaller cold war era subs such as the NR-1 or a Sturgeon-class, I will be especially grateful for that information.
-Why are there dedicated pipes for venting and flooding? With one pipe and a valve (probably more than one valve for safety/redundancy) couldn't you just open the valve(s) to flood the ballast tank and release the compressed air into the tank simultaneously to vent?
-When flooding/venting MBTs to rise/dive, what is the typical procedure for the guy at the BCP? I know there are buttons for venting and flooding each ballast tank, gauges for monitoring their water levels, pressure, flow rate in the pipes, etc., and switches for turning pumps on and off and manually shutting of valves, but I'm not exactly sure how they use those controls to operate the ballast systems nor do I have any idea what kind of coordination happens with the captain and the rest of the crew while doing this. For instance, this is an example dive procedure right now for my sub based on my very limited understanding:
1. Captain orders the sub to dive to a depth of 2,500 ft.
2. Guy at the BCP confirms the order, warns the crew of the dive, and sets the dive alarm off
3. He presses the buttons to open the valves in the MBT flooding pipes to let the water in while monitoring the MBT water levels, flooding pipe flow rate, depth, and dive rate
4. He periodically informs the captain of the current depth and dive rate as the sub dives toward target depth, making sure the flow rate into both MBTs and their water levels stay about equal to each other as they fill up to prevent pitching
5. As the sub approaches target depth, BCP guy informs the captain and closes the flooding valves for both MBTs, opens the venting valves, and opens the compressed air tank valves, letting pressurized air in and expel the water until MBT water levels for neutral buoyancy are achieved at target depth; he makes sure the flow rate out of the MBTs, pressure, and water levels are stable and relatively uniform during this process
6. After neutral buoyancy is achieved at target depth, BCP guy informs the captain, closes the compressed air valves, then closes the venting valves, then checks the gauges to make sure both MBT tanks have about the same water levels and aren't bleeding or taking on water somehow
7. BCP guy informs the captain that the sub is now cruising at target depth and awaits captain's acknowledgement
8. Captain acknowledges the information
I'm almost certain there's a lot missing here in terms of the typical communication and BCP controls for a procedure like this, and this is just one example; I'm looking for some insight as to what more I'll need to make a procedure like this realistic and believable enough to satisfy a real submariner. I have a lot more to ask, but I'll leave it at this for now; I know this is probably too much already. Thanks for reading, and any input is appreciated! :)
Here are my first questions related to this regarding submarines in general, but if you have specifics on smaller cold war era subs such as the NR-1 or a Sturgeon-class, I will be especially grateful for that information.
-Why are there dedicated pipes for venting and flooding? With one pipe and a valve (probably more than one valve for safety/redundancy) couldn't you just open the valve(s) to flood the ballast tank and release the compressed air into the tank simultaneously to vent?
-When flooding/venting MBTs to rise/dive, what is the typical procedure for the guy at the BCP? I know there are buttons for venting and flooding each ballast tank, gauges for monitoring their water levels, pressure, flow rate in the pipes, etc., and switches for turning pumps on and off and manually shutting of valves, but I'm not exactly sure how they use those controls to operate the ballast systems nor do I have any idea what kind of coordination happens with the captain and the rest of the crew while doing this. For instance, this is an example dive procedure right now for my sub based on my very limited understanding:
1. Captain orders the sub to dive to a depth of 2,500 ft.
2. Guy at the BCP confirms the order, warns the crew of the dive, and sets the dive alarm off
3. He presses the buttons to open the valves in the MBT flooding pipes to let the water in while monitoring the MBT water levels, flooding pipe flow rate, depth, and dive rate
4. He periodically informs the captain of the current depth and dive rate as the sub dives toward target depth, making sure the flow rate into both MBTs and their water levels stay about equal to each other as they fill up to prevent pitching
5. As the sub approaches target depth, BCP guy informs the captain and closes the flooding valves for both MBTs, opens the venting valves, and opens the compressed air tank valves, letting pressurized air in and expel the water until MBT water levels for neutral buoyancy are achieved at target depth; he makes sure the flow rate out of the MBTs, pressure, and water levels are stable and relatively uniform during this process
6. After neutral buoyancy is achieved at target depth, BCP guy informs the captain, closes the compressed air valves, then closes the venting valves, then checks the gauges to make sure both MBT tanks have about the same water levels and aren't bleeding or taking on water somehow
7. BCP guy informs the captain that the sub is now cruising at target depth and awaits captain's acknowledgement
8. Captain acknowledges the information
I'm almost certain there's a lot missing here in terms of the typical communication and BCP controls for a procedure like this, and this is just one example; I'm looking for some insight as to what more I'll need to make a procedure like this realistic and believable enough to satisfy a real submariner. I have a lot more to ask, but I'll leave it at this for now; I know this is probably too much already. Thanks for reading, and any input is appreciated! :)