Offshore Mobile Platforms for Electrochemical OIF

Inventors: Ken Buesseler, Amir Taqieddin
Intellectual Property: Patent Pending

Overview: In the ocean, iron plays a vital role in aiding carbon cycles; the limited availability of iron can limit productivity and uptake of carbon over large areas in the ocean. An additional mitigation method to compact the impending impacts of climate change and ocean acidification is iron fertilization. Limited availability of iron in the ocean can limit productivity and uptake of carbon over large areas in the ocean. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in iron fertilizers technologies to enhance ocean fertilizers and combat climate change. However, there has been limited research surrounding the process and how to manage it in the past years. Because of this setback, new research will have to present a solution that allows for more control and close monitoring.

Technology: Implementing electrochemical processes for iron fertilization compared to manually putting nutrients in the water increases control of when, where, and how long iron nutrients are released into the ocean. This process utilizes offshore platforms to integrate nutrients in seawater. Existing or independent platforms or vessels such as buoys or towed vehicles would have iron installed on them and be remotely operated from the shore. Users can turn on or offshore the electrochemical currents depending on their current situation. Maintaining a high level of control allows users to ensure the biological ecosystems are not harmed or disrupted during the process.