VEOC for the String DU Objectives Design Properties Trends Break out Box Penetrator Production Cost review Status Vertical Electric Optical Cable /eh

Objectives Low weight contribution Low drag contribution Reliable to manufacture Economical to assemble

Industrial? Scientific equipment Dedicated Careful handling Onetime installed Large numbers Dedicated design Off shore industry General purpose Rough handling Frequently installed Small numbers / occasion Robust design

PBOF design Pressure Balanced Oil Filled Both sides of OFM with non-stop cable with break outs No numerous splices Environment friendly materials 1 tube 2 fibre bundle 3 wires 4 oil

Properties Construction Characteristics – LDPE tubing black – Bundle with 9 Bendbright XS fibres – 0.88 mm2 (18 AWG) wires with Polyphenilether isolation – MIDEL Transformer oil (biodegradable, non hazardous to water) Mechanical Characteristics – Diameter6.35 mm – Operating temperature -30°C to 80°C – Cable density1167 kg/m 30 MPa – Min. Bending radius50 mm – Internal overpressure<1 MPa – Depth rating60 Mpa – Drag cm/s sea current Electrical and Optical Characteristics – Operating voltage <600 V – DC 20°C23.3 ohm/km – Fibre attenuation< nm

Trends

VEOC to DOM A B A 1.Cover lid with O-ring (nitrile) and DC/DC 2.Cir clip 3.Vent or fill, closed with stopper 4.VEOC in/out, 2 bendbright SMF, 2 Cu wire 1 mm² 5.PE tube 6.35 mmOD 6.PE end cap 75 mm 7.Grommet 8.Press-fit connector 12 mm with O-ring (nitrile) Collet sealed with Silicon rubber 9.Titanium penetrator Break Out Box (BOB)

Breakout Box (BOB) Integral part of the PBOF system – Compliant with the VEOC properties Output to penetrator Fibre storage Housing for DC/DC (400/12V) converter – Vin > 350 V switch on – Vin < 320 V switch off – 11 V < Vout < 13 V – 0 W < Pout < 18 W – I fuse 500 mA – 10 ms – I peak 3 A switch off – T max 50°C switch off – P test 60 Mpa All components validated  ready for integration BOB house 1/4“ VEOC tube 8 mm tube to penetrator Converter Cover lid O-ring Cir Clip

Penetrator 1 Why? – Stress in glass sphere – Easy and fast to mount – Compliant with the VEOC properties Stress in glass near hole 1000 MPa Penetrator Ti grade 5 Stress in glass near hole 500 MPa

Penetrator 2 2 Design paths: – Nikhef (light, 90% of COTS, 90% syntactic) Several tests on 60 MPa performed ready for integration with DOM-in-Antares – Seacon (Nikhef design to off shore standards, special made, 90% metal) Expected 7M12 CONFIDENTIAL ≈ 94 mm

Production Hall (available) – 45 m x 3 m – Sufficient light Tooling – Vacuum equipment available – Oil fill equipment available – Temperature equipment for curing glue being prepared – Personal tooling being collected – Test tooling (OTDR, Voltage, etc.) available Procedures – Assembly of the VEOC available – Assembly of penetrator available – Oil fill of VEOC available – Acceptance tests (to trap assembly failures) being defined Production schemes – 3Q12 Test cable (fibres under surveillance) (Atlantic at 5000m and/or Toulon area; test programme being defined) – 4Q12 Cable for 3 PPM-DOMs – >4Q12: 4 x test cables for integration test programme with string/LOM Oil filling equipment

Production 2 Test cable For LOM tests –Fibres under surveillance VEOC routing in the String After each DOM change rope Equal BOBs force turning DOMs

Assembly room for VEOC Comb Table fixed to ground Track 36.4 m 2 m Fiber and wire turn space Comb Table fixed to ground Track Drums with fiber and wire BOB assembly space Cable track Room is being prepared for production

Procedures Wire storage (18 AWG) Fibre storage (bundle 9 x BBF) Tube storage BOBcap, grommet, glue cutting glueing Stretch on tracks Filling tubes Penetrator parts Assembling BOB and penetrator DC/DC on lid Oil fill equipment Oil filling VEOC storage Example for assembly of VEOC Assembly of VEOC Assembly of penetrator Assembly of oil filling Tube with grommet

Production tests All used parts are tested befor assembly – These tests are ment to trap assembly failures Pressure test with 0.3 Mpa over pressure – Check leakage – Maintain for 1 hour Fiber test with OTDR – Continuous decay without spikes (att. < 0.8 dB / km) Power test wit 400 V – Check output 11 V < Vout < 13 V – Change 400 V polarity – Determine switch off/on voltage under load Proto type test: Eventually twist will not damage the VEOC

Cost review Based on single cable (price level 2012 ) – Tube929 m a € 0.79 /m € 734 – Fibers1018 m a € 2.80 /m € 2851 – Wires 2018 m a € 0.87 /m € 1756 – BOB mechanics20 x € € 2022 – DC/DC20 x € € 1954 – Penetrator mechanics23 x € 129 € 2967 – Small components, oil1 x € 500 € 500 Total € excl. manpower Volume discount 10%-30%? (guess) Manpower influence on final costs – Hired with internal overhead2 x ? (guess) (not at Nikhef) – Outsourced production 3 x ? (guess)

Status Test of all components individual satisfactory – Cable, DC/DC, Penetrator tested on 60 MPa Written procedures for assembly available Finalizing tool equipment Refurbishing production room Collecting all the components for 6 cables Expected start cable production for tests: July 2012 – First expected delivery 3Q12 – Production time 4 weeks, 4 FTE Establish contacts with Baas b.v. for industrializing