National Institute of Ocean Technology
Encyclopedia
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences
, Government of India
. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and the Director is the head of the Institute. The institute is based in Chennai
.
The primary mission of NIOT is to develop a scientific understanding of oceans, coasts and marine life, and to develop technology for the sustenance and environmentally-sound applications of physical and biological resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The institute operates a fleet of coastal and oceanic research vessels, as well as data-collecting buoys in the Indian Ocean
. NIOT was responsible for the recent archeological find of an ancient civilization
off the coast of western India
. (See Marine archaeology in the Gulf of Cambay.)
In 2001, NIOT has operated a pilot 1MW ocean thermal energy conversion
plant installed on the barge Sagar Shakthi.
Desalination by LTTD process: The concept of the variation in the ocean water temperature with an increase in depth is used in the Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) to flash evaporate the warm water at low pressure and condense the resulting vapour with the deep sea cold water. Starting from a small laboratory based 5m3/day capacity scale model, the group has successfully commissioned one 100m3/day capacity land based plant at Kavaratti and one 1000m3/day capacity floating barge based desalination plant off the coast of Chennai.
warning system. It consists of a network of data-collection buoys in the Arabian Sea
and the Bay of Bengal
. The programme was expanded following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
In December 2009, a new group was formed at NIOT to develop low-cost technology for meteorological and oceanographic buoys. Among the buoys developed by the group is the low cost meteorological buoy, called the Spar buoy, made using low-density polyethylene which collects humidity, wind and surface temperature information and communicates with a data relay transponders on the INSAT system. Another development from the group is the AUPD, an autonomous underwater profiling drifer buoy, which collects sub-surface temperature and salinity data. In addition, the group has also developed a moored bottom pressure recorder which calculates tides and can provide tsunami warning information.
A small, usually hard mass of tissue in the body.
. Its ocean-going research ships include, ORV Sagar Manjusha and ORV Sagar Nidhi
. It also manages MV Sagar Shakthi, a prototype floating 1MW ocean thermal energy conversion
plant.
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Ministry of Earth Sciences (India)
The Ministry of Earth Sciences formed in 2006 from a merger of the India Meteorological Department , the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting , the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology , Pune , and Earth Risk Evaluation Centre , and the Ministry of Ocean Development. It is one...
, Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and the Director is the head of the Institute. The institute is based in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
The primary mission of NIOT is to develop a scientific understanding of oceans, coasts and marine life, and to develop technology for the sustenance and environmentally-sound applications of physical and biological resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The institute operates a fleet of coastal and oceanic research vessels, as well as data-collecting buoys in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. NIOT was responsible for the recent archeological find of an ancient civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
off the coast of western India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. (See Marine archaeology in the Gulf of Cambay.)
Deep Sea Mining
The deep ocean has abundant mineral resources like polymetallic nodules, cobalt rich manganese crust and hydrothermal deposits. Utilising this mineral wealth for the benefit of mankind will be the focus of ocean mining activities in this century. Deep sea technology and ocean mining group of NIOT has been actively involved in the development of technology for Polymetallic nodule mining from 6000m water depth. The Polymetallic nodules containing copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese are viewed as potential resources to meet the increasing demand for these metals in our country. India has a status of pioneer investor and has been allotted a site in the Central Indian Ocean Basin by the International Sea Bed Authority (ISBA) for exploration and exploitation of polymetallic nodulesEnergy & Fresh Water
The main area of focus of the group is the utilization of the ocean resources to find alternative technologies for fresh water and renewable energy. Currently the group is working on three specific areas, fresh water production using low temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) process, and energy production using two distinctly different processes, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Wave Energy.In 2001, NIOT has operated a pilot 1MW ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity....
plant installed on the barge Sagar Shakthi.
Desalination by LTTD process: The concept of the variation in the ocean water temperature with an increase in depth is used in the Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) to flash evaporate the warm water at low pressure and condense the resulting vapour with the deep sea cold water. Starting from a small laboratory based 5m3/day capacity scale model, the group has successfully commissioned one 100m3/day capacity land based plant at Kavaratti and one 1000m3/day capacity floating barge based desalination plant off the coast of Chennai.
National Data Buoy Programme
The National Data Buoy Programme was established at NIOT in 1997, to collect real-time meteorological and oceanographic data to and help predict short and long-term climatic changes. It also serves as a tsunamiTsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
warning system. It consists of a network of data-collection buoys in the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
and the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. The programme was expanded following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
In December 2009, a new group was formed at NIOT to develop low-cost technology for meteorological and oceanographic buoys. Among the buoys developed by the group is the low cost meteorological buoy, called the Spar buoy, made using low-density polyethylene which collects humidity, wind and surface temperature information and communicates with a data relay transponders on the INSAT system. Another development from the group is the AUPD, an autonomous underwater profiling drifer buoy, which collects sub-surface temperature and salinity data. In addition, the group has also developed a moored bottom pressure recorder which calculates tides and can provide tsunami warning information.
A small, usually hard mass of tissue in the body.
Fleet
NIOT owns and operates coastal oceanographic research ships ORV Sagar Purvi and ORV Sagar Paschimi, designed by the National Ship Design Research Centre, VisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
. Its ocean-going research ships include, ORV Sagar Manjusha and ORV Sagar Nidhi
ORV Sagar Nidhi
ORV Sagar Nidhi is an ice-strengthened multidisciplinary vessel operated by the National Institute of Ocean Technology, India. It was constructed at Fincantieri, Italy...
. It also manages MV Sagar Shakthi, a prototype floating 1MW ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity....
plant.
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