Patent 7735321 was granted and assigned to Lockheed Martin on June, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A system for relieving the stress on an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) cold water pipe includes a slidable joint that couples the OTEC cold water pipe to a surge tank at an opening in the surge tank. The system can further include a first flotation device that is coupled to the OTEC cold water pipe below the surge tank, and a second flotation device that is coupled to the OTEC cold water pipe within the surge tank.