The Fresh/Salt Water Release is a reusable, low-power release mechanism that replaces a traditional burn wire. his allows research with traditional ocean bottom equipment in freshwater by replacing the burn wire with this device. With this device, the release time is less than 1 second. It can operate using a single, off-the-shelf, 9-volt battery, reducing typical battery pack costs required for a burn wire. This device is compatible with Edgetech release systems or any system that can provide a voltage from 9 DC to 40 volts. This system has been successfully used on research instruments deployed in Yellowstone Lake and Skilak Lake, Alaska, at 650 feet of freshwater.
Background: Recovering positively buoyant instruments anchored to the bottom of the ocean requires an acoustic signal to trigger the burn wire and release the anchor. Additionally, burn wire acoustic release systems rely on conductive seawater and need about 15 minutes to burn through and release the instrument. hese constraints restrict seismographic research to saltwater locations and are involved in a time-consuming process.
TRL: 9