Selected European Technologies
GOPA Consultants by order of the European Commission

K.E.R.N.
“Prize for Maritime Technology”
of the K.E.R.N. Region

Hans Kuehn named as nominee for ONS 2008
Innovation Award

Invitation of the European Patent Office Den Haag

As a Result of a Study made by GOPA-Consultants by order of the European Commission, Directorate General for Energy, the development of a “Submersible, Modular Powerpack”, has been presented as a selected technique for the decommissioning of Offshore-Platforms and for other Offshore-Uses.

The Technology-Region K.E.R.N. awards every two years the “Prize for Maritime Technology”.
The prize, endowed with 10000,- Euro, will be awarded for outstanding achievements in the maritime industry and technology. Until now 16 personalities on the whole from science, technology and industry from home and abroad have received this prize.

Hans Kühn, Engineer in Hamburg, has been awarded in 1997 for the development of deep water suitable, cost-effective and environment-friendly drives for offshore impact hammer installations and further ocean engineering applications for deep water use.

Decreasing oil and gas reserves on the continents do increasingly force the oil industry to expand their activities into maritime regions. Starting from the shallow water areas near the mainland it has turned out successfully by a steadily continued development of the maritime technology to proceed in ever greater water depths.

The technical installations for exploration, extraction and refinement of hydrocarbons develop to ever more tremendous constructions and advance more and more in greater depths. In order to anchor drilling platforms in the sea ground, safely foundation piles have to be driven deeply into the sea ground. As head of development and technical director of the MENCK GmbH Hans Kühn has developed under water pile driving systems of different power stages.

As a self-employed engineer he has developed an underwater power pack, by which smaller units can be modular-connected with each other to more powerful units. To this, he has presented patented proposals for more cost-saving and less liable to fault installations for energy-, signal- and data-transmission for operating underwater tools.

Hans Kuehn’s nomination for an ONS 2008 Innovation Award has been approved by the international jury for the invention of a self supporting, light-weight, modular submersible power pack. Which is already successful tested in the pressure chamber of MARUM at the Bremen University in an environment which is similar to a water depth of 6000 metres.

Invitation of the European Patent Office Den Haag, directed to a small circle of European inventors, companies and musea, to contribute for information of the general public, the economy and industry about inventions / developments in the framework of the exhibition as named undermentioned.

EXHIBITION AT THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE:
TECHNOLOGY AND PATENTS FOR THE EXPLOITATION OF OCEANS

The Netherlands: Rob van den Haak, Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, Directie Nordzee van Rijkswaterstaat, Nautiek Diving Equipment

Germany: GFT Gesellschaft für Tauchtechnik,
 H. Kühn, S. Rudolph, GKSS Forschungszentrum, Dräger Drive

France: IFREMER, Equipe COUSTEAU, COMEX, THOMSON MARCONI SONAR S.A.S, Musée de la Corderie Royale

United Kingdom: Marconi Electronic Systems