Acoustic Releases

Safely deploying and recovering seabed equipment and their collected data is critical to many scientific and offshore operations. Acoustic releases are therefore key instrumentation that need to offer the utmost reliability. This is why iXblue’s Oceano Series have been designed to offer operators with highly dependable acoustic releases.

Special care has been given to the Oceano Series release mechanism to overcome the challenges posed by concretion or biological deposits and offer highly reliable release. Based on a positive drive-off release mechanism, the transmission chain between the release shaft connected to the gearmotor and the main hook forces the hook to open and release the load, whatever the conditions encountered.

The safety of seabed equipment and ocean sensors also depends on their resilience to subsea operations harsh environments, including the risks posed by corrosion and their associated maintenance and repair costs. Optimizing the design of the acoustic release and selecting the appropriate material for its construction is thus key. This is why every single component of iXblue’s acoustic releases have been built using high tensile Super Duplex Stainless Steel. Offering outstanding resistance to corrosion, the Oceano Series durable design is perfect for long term deployments and harsh working conditions.

iXblue’s latest model of acoustic release, the Oceano R5, furthermore benefits from a new innovative design that reduces mechanical interfaces to prevent standing water, improve waterflow around the acoustic release, and enhance resistance to corrosion.

Durability is another key feature for any acoustic release. And while a long-endurance device built from durable materials is highly important, acoustic releases also need to offer extended battery life.
The Oceano Series not only offers excellent robustness to corrosion, reducing maintenance and reinforcing their endurance in harsh environments, it also offers very low consumption and unrivaled battery life for extended deployment periods (up to 60 months using alkaline batteries).

iXblue has always been a leader in the field of low power consumption, while guaranteeing a constant level of acoustic emission, regardless of the battery discharge rate. The combination of the lowest possible clock frequency and a well thought out power management system for the electronic components allows iXblue to provide unparalleled performance on all its acoustic release models.

All iXblue Oceano Series acoustic releases can be actuated using one single universal telecommand unit. Compact, portable, versatile and lightweight, the Oceano TT801 low frequency band acoustic telecommand unit can be connected to various dunking transducers depending on the length of cable required and can be easily operated from large research vessels or very small rubber boats. With this universal deck set unit, operators are able to calculate and display slant distances to target, monitor remote instruments status and manage command codes.

The Oceano Series offers a complete range that addresses the various needs of operators, including:

• Long-term oceanographic mooring recovery
• Coastal moorings
•  Pipeline pig tracking
•  Remotely controlled operations: triggering of hydraulic shackle or pyrotechnic cable cutter
•  Data transmission (pressure)
•  Deployment of concrete mattress or sandbag for marine construction