Efficient, Cost-Effective, Low-Emissions Method to Cutting Nuclear Submarine and Aircraft Carrier Hulls

A new Hybrid cutting process for steel has been developed and demonstrated inthe Phase I project on steel thicknesses up to 3 inches. Because the heating is muchfaster and more efficient than the currently used process for shipbreaking of submarinehulls and aircraft carrier hulls, the process offers the advantage of as much as a tenfoldincrease in cutting speed, while using 13% less oxygen per length of cut. Additionally, theheating speed nearly eliminates the time for heat to conduct to the adjacent metal, whichsubstantially reduces the emissions from the heating of coatings on the plate. Laboratorytesting showed emission levels at or below that required by environmental regulations.Two additional cutting processes, using the hybrid technology to augment the processoperation have been proposed and will be tested during the proposed Phase II andPhase II Option projects. In one case, initial testing showed that the technology coulddouble the speed of plasma cutting. The other proposed application of the technologywould produce cuts in steel, or other metals, which were at a much lower temperaturethan either Oxy-Fuel or Plasma, which could have the effect of even further reduction ofemissions.