Fresh Water Generators - How They Work

Introduction

During old times, all kinds of ships that were travel on waters for more than a few hours were supposed to carry tanks upon tanks of fresh water to provide for the crew of the ship. They were used not just for drinking and cooking but also for bathing. However, if there was a shortage of clean water due to unforeseen circumstances, then people would have to resort to consuming unclean sea water that is very harmful (may even lead to fatal diseases). In today’s times, however, there is the fresh water generator which is hauled up on ships instead of gallons of water. It is a kind of an evaporator which is able to convert sea water into drinkable and clean water.

How it works

A typical fresh water generator uses the heat of the ship to convert sea water into clean and consumable water. The basic purpose is to boil out the bacteria in the sea water by using the heat. However, even though the idea is ingenious, it is hard to cleanse the water only through the heat from the engine since that can only heat water till about sixty or seventy degrees Celsius while water needs to boil at least a hundred degrees Celsius before it is pure. Thus, marine engineers have equipped the generator to evaporate the water which has not boiled to the maximum level.

Principles

A fresh water generator typically allows the vacuum water to boil at a temperature much lower than that being used for the cleansed water. When vacuuming, the temperature of the water really comes down and thus, one is able to boil the water properly, allowing it to be consumed. Basically, the following things are required for fresh water generators to function properly:

1. the evaporation unit
2. whole casing
3. the ejector unit
4. saline meter unit
5. condenser unit

Each part and component has its own job in the entire process of water cleansing.

Mostly, a fresh water generator is started when the ship has traveled far enough and consistently enough for the temperature of the engine to be stable and consistent as well. For most ships, it is best to wait at least twelve nautical miles before starting the generator. For that particular distance, one must store up clean drinking water. After that, the outer supply jacket is open so that the water from the sea starts pouring into the machine. The evaporative unit is turned on as well and the generator begins working.

Then, the ejector starts working so that the vacuum slowly builds up and the sea water feeding pump is turned on as well. Slowly, the vacuum will build up and enables all salt elements in the water to remain behind as the contaminated water evaporates away. Sometimes, the leftover salt particles are used for cooking purposes as well. After that, the liquid has to go through the demister plate which allows all huge particles to be caught on the net so that it does not enter the condensation unit. After that, the sea water condenses the newly made fresh water and pure water is ready for use and is available to the ship crew. After the entire process, a last step requires the water to go through a saline meter so that one can check if it has the required PPM level of salt content in it - not more or less than the required amount.


Thus, a fresh water generator is basically a must have for maritime travel and one must make sure that when ships are sent out to carry cargo, some space is left for the generator. It is a great backup to possess, especially if an emergency ever occurs.

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