You are on page 1of 5

4/4/2015

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWaterGeneratorExplained

Forums

Photos

Videos

PremiumeBooks

FreeeBooks

SearchMarineInsight

HOME

NEWS

LIFEATSEA

MARINETECH

NAVALARCH

PIRACY

NAVIGATION

SAFETY

CAREER

REPORTS

Youarehere:Home/MarineTechnology/Procedure/Maintenance

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWater
GeneratorExplained
Facebook

259 Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest

OCTOBER21,2010BYKARANC

Freshwatergenerator,oneoftheimportantmachineryonboardaship,issomethingthatcannotb

donewithout.Freshwaterproducedfromfreshwatergeneratorisusedfordrinking,cooking,wash
andevenrunningotherimportantmachinerywhichusefreshwaterasacoolingmedium.

http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/convertingseawatertofreshwateronashipfreshwatergeneratorexplained/

1/16

4/4/2015

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWaterGeneratorExplained

Supermarket
Container
083899888155/BuySell
TradeRentPTZonaLintas
Samudera24Jam

Freshwaterisgenerallyproducedonboardusingtheevaporationmethod.Therearetwothingsth

availableinplentyonshiptoproducefreshwaterSeawaterandheat.Thusfreshwaterisproduce

evaporatingseawaterusingheatfromanyoftheheatsource.Theevaporatedseawateristhena
cooledbytheseawaterandthecyclerepeats.

Generallytheheatsourceavailableistakenfromthemainenginejacketwater,whichisusedforc

themainenginecomponentssuchascylinderhead,lineretc.Thetemperatureavailablefromthis

waterisabout70deg.centigrade.Butatthistemperaturetheevaporationofwaterisnotpossible

allknowthattheevaporationofwatertakesplaceat100degcentigradeunderatmosphericpressu

Thusinordertoproducefreshwaterat70degreesweneedtoreducetheatmosphericpressure,w

isdonebycreatingavacuuminsidethechamberwheretheevaporationistakingplace.Also,asa

ofthevacuumthecoolingoftheevaporatedseawaterwillalsotakeplaceatlowertemperature.T
http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/convertingseawatertofreshwateronashipfreshwatergeneratorexplained/

2/16

4/4/2015

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWaterGeneratorExplained

cooledwateriscollectedandtransferredtothetank.

Nowadays,reverseosmosisisoneofthemethodswhichareusedonboardforgeneratingfreshw
Generallythisisusedonpassengervesselswhereinthereisalargerequirementoffreshwater

production.However,inmerchantshipstheevaporationmethodisusedasreverseosmosisiscos
andincludeslargemaintenancecostformembrane.
FreshWaterGeneratorArrangement
Themainbodyofafreshwatergeneratorontheshipconsistsofalargecylindricalbodywithtwo

compartments.Oneofthecompartmentsisthecondenserandtheotheristheevaporator.Thefre

watergeneratoralsoconsistsofaneducatorwhichhelpsingeneratingtherequiredvacuum.Thef
waterpumpandejectorpumphelpsintransferofwatertoandfromthefreshwatergenerator.
StartingtheFreshWaterGenerator

1.Beforestartingthefreshwatergeneratorwehavetocheckthattheshipisnotincongested

canalsandis20nauticalmilesawayfromtheshore.Thisisdonebecauseneartheshoretheefflu
fromfactoriesandsewagearedischargedintotheseacangetintothefreshwatergenerator.
2.Checkwhetherengineisrunningabove50rpm,thereasonforthisisthatatlowrpmthe

temperatureofjacketwaterwhichisaround60degreesandnotsufficientforevaporationofwater.
3.Checkthedrainvalvepresentatthebottomofthegeneratorisincloseposition.
4.Nowopensuctionanddischargevalvesoftheseawaterpumpwhichwillprovidewaterfor
evaporation,coolingandtotheeductorforcreatingvacuum.

5.Opentheseawaterdischargevalvefromwherethewaterissentbacktotheseaaftercircu
insidethefreshwatergenerator.
6.Closethevacuumvalvesituatedontopofthegenerator.

7.Nowstarttheseawaterpumpandcheckthepressureofthepump.Thepressureisgeneral
bars.

8.Waitforthevacuumtobuildup.Vacuumshouldbeatleast90%whichcanbeseenontheg
http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/convertingseawatertofreshwateronashipfreshwatergeneratorexplained/

3/16

4/4/2015

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWaterGeneratorExplained

presentonthegenerator.Generallythetimetakenforthegenerationofvacuumisabout10minut
9.Whenvacuumisachievedopenthevalveforfeedwatertreatment,thisistopreventscale
formationinsidetheplates.

10.Nowopenhotwater(jacketwater)inletandoutletvalvesslowlytoabouthalf.Alwaysopenth

outletvalvefirstandtheninletvalve.Slowlystarttoincreasetheopeningofthevalvestofullopen.

11.Nowwecanseethattheboilingtemperaturestartsincreasingandthevacuumstartsdroppin
12.Thevacuumdroptoabout85%whichisanindicationthatevaporationisstarted.
13.Openthevalvefromfreshwaterpumptodrain.
14.Switchonthesalinometerifithastobestartedmanually.Generallyitisonautostart.
15.Nowstartfreshwaterpumpandtastethewatercomingoutofthedrain.

16.Whenfreshwaterstartsproducingitisseenthattheboilingtemperaturedropsagainslightly
vacuumcomesbacktothenormalvalue.
17.Checkthewatercomingoutofthesalinometerisnotsaltyandalsocheckthereadingofthe

salinometer.Thisisdonetoseeifthesalinometerisworkingproperlyornotandtopreventthewh

freshwaterfromgettingcontaminatedwithsaltwater.Thevalueofsalinometeriskeptbelow10pp

18.Aftercheckingthetasteofthewatercomingoutofthesalinometer,openvalvefortankfrom
pumpandclosedrainvalve.
StoppingtheFreshwaterGenerator

http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/convertingseawatertofreshwateronashipfreshwatergeneratorexplained/

4/16

4/4/2015

ConvertingSeawatertoFreshwateronaShip:FreshWaterGeneratorExplained

1.Closethejacketwaterinletvalves.Generallyinletisclosedfirstandthentheoutletvalve.
2.Closethevalveforfeedwatertreatment.
3.Stopfreshwaterpump.
4.Switchoffthesalinometer.
5.Stopseawaterpump(alsoknownasejectorpump).
6.Openvacuumvalve.

7.Closeseawatersuctionvalveandoverboardvalve.Thisisgenerallynotrequiredastheyar

returnvalves.However,incaseofvalveleakingordamage,thesevalvesaretobeclosedwithout
ImageCredits:Indiamart,maritimesuppliers

ReportanErro

LikeIt?ShareIt

ShareonFacebook ShareonTwitter

http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/convertingseawatertofreshwateronashipfreshwatergeneratorexplained/

5/16

You might also like