L93 - Fresh Water Generator

Describe low pressure evap system,

Chemical treatment and
maintenance
 Introduction

Fresh water generator, one of the important

machinery on board a ship, is something that cannot
be done without.

Fresh water produced from fresh water generator is

used for drinking, cooking, washing and running
important machinery which use fresh water as a
cooling medium.
A considerable amount of fresh water is consumed in
a ship.

The crew consumes an average 100 liter/head/day.

In a steam ship (a ship whose main propulsion unit is

steam turbine or a ship which is a large tanker having
steam turbine driven cargo oil pumps) the
consumption for the boiler can be as high as 30
tonnes/day.
Sufficient potable water may be taken on in port to
meet crew and passenger requirement.

But the quality of this water will be too poor for use in
water tube boilers.

It is common practice to take on only a minimum

supply of potable water and make up the rest by
distillation of seawater.

The equipment used onboard for the production of

freshwater from seawater is known as fresh water
generator.
Working Principle of the low pressure freshwater
generator -

Boiling point of water can be reduced by reducing the

pressure of the atmosphere surrounding it.

By maintaining a low pressure, water can be boiled at

low temperatures say 50 degC.

The source of heat for the fresh water generator could

be waste heat rejected by main engine jacket cooling
water.
The pressure energy before entering the convergent
nozzle is greater and the velocity is less for the fluid.
At the point of discharge the pressure energy is
converted into the velocity so the velocity will be
greater and the pressure will be less during the
discharge.
Divergent nozzle the opposite effect takes place
velocity energy is convert into pressure energy, at the
point of diffusion there is a low pressure or vacuum is
created which is used to strip the other fluid or air.
Such plants are widely used because of:

1.Control over type of scale formed.

2.Heating medium can be at relatively low

temperature. (e.g. diesel engine jacket water or
steam)

3.Improved heat transfer across the heating

element.
Eductors are devices which are driven by pressurised
liquid, which for seawater systems is quite often taken
from the ship's fire pump system.

They create a pumping action with no moving parts,

and are thus useful for installation in less accessible
locations.

No electrical supply is needed, maintenance is

minimal, they are self priming, will handle solids, and
are not affected by running dry on the suction side or
by any rolling or pitching action of the ship.
Typical applications using seawater as the motive
medium include:

•emptying bilges
•chain-lockers
•machinery spaces
•deballasting
•entraining fire-fighting foam
•desalination systems
Heat from the diesel engine cooling water is used to
evaporate a small fraction of the seawater feed in the
plate type freshwater generator or evaporator.

Unevaporated water is discharged as brine (by brine

ejector).

The evaporated water passes through the demister to

the plate type vapour condenser.

Here, after condensation it is discharged to fresh

water storage tank by fresh water distillate pump.
During entire operation the feed rate to the
evaporator is fixed by the orifice plate.

A typical freshwater generator line diagram is shown

below -
In the event of salinity of freshwater produced
exceeds a predetermined value (maximum usually 10
ppm) the solenoid controlled dump valve diverts the
flow to the bilge.

This prevents contamination of the made water.

Excess salinity could be used by many factors include

leakage of seawater at condenser or priming of
evaporator or malfunctioning of demister, or many
other reasons.
What cannot be condensed at the condenser are
called ‘incondensable gases’ like air and these gases
are continuously ejected out by air ejector.

This way the shell of freshwater generator is

maintained at high vacuum, a must requirement to
boil water at low temperatures.
Thus in order to produce fresh water at 70 degrees
we need to reduce the atmospheric pressure, which
is done by creating a vacuum inside the chamber
where the evaporation is taking place.

Also, as a result of the vacuum, the cooling of the

evaporated sea water will also take place at lower
temperature.

This cooled water is collected and transferred to the

tank.
Compact and lightweight, Alfa Laval fresh water
generators are easy to install and assemble on site.

Low operation and maintenance costs.

Start-and-forget operation, combined with easy

access to the interior, minimizes man-hours required
for operation and maintenance.
Designed for automatic operation with continuous

control of freshwater quality, the Alfa Laval

freshwater generator range varies from a production

rate of 10 -100 m3/day depending on heating

medium and cooling water temperature.

The freshwater generator can be dimensioned to suit
any jacket water temperature from 55° to 95°C and
any cooling water temperature required.

The quantity of freshwater produced can be altered

simply by varying the number of plates in the heat
exchanger assemblies.
Fresh water Generator Starting Procedure
1.Make sure seawater ejector pump suction,
discharge and overboard valves are open. Start the
ejector pump. Seawater pressure at the air ejector
must be 5 bar or more.
2.Wait for vacuum to build up inside fresh water
generator shell. (About 92 % vacuum).
3.Open the feed water valve to feed seawater to the
evaporator. Adjust the feed water pressure.
Normally marking is provided on the pressure gauge
for desired feed water pressure.
4.Open main engine jacket cooling water inlet and
outlet to the evaporator gradually.
5.Open the air vent clock at the top of the evaporator
to make sure the evaporator is filled with jacket
cooling water. Air must be purged out if any.

6.Switch on the salinity alarm panel for measuring

purity of the freshwater produced.

7.There will be a sight glass provided at the suction

line for the distillate pump. Make sure condensed
water is coming to the suction line. Now start the
distillate pump and open discharge valve to lead
generated water to specified storage tanks.

8.Do checks While Running Fresh water Generator

9.Through the sight glass provided in the evaporator
shell, observe flashing of water.

10.Also check for the brine level inside. It should not

be too high or too low.

11.Shell temperature must be around 50 deg cel.

12.Make sure shell vacuum is more than 90% from

the vacuum gauge.

13.Check seawater inlet and outlet temperature to

the condenser.
14.Ensure seawater pressure at air ejector inlet more
than 3 bars.

15.Check for distillate pump pressure and water flow

meter.

16.Check salinity of fresh water produced.

17.Check level and flow of dosing chemical.

18.Check ampere of ejector pump and distillate pump

motor.
Materials of Construction for Fresh Water Generator

The shell is usually fabricated steel (or non-ferrous

metal like cupro-nickels) which has been shot blasted

then coated with some form of protective. One type

of coating is sheet rubber which is rolled and bonded

to the plate then hardened afterwards by heat

treatment.
The important points about protective coatings are:
•They must be inert and prevent corrosion.
•They must resist the effect of acid cleaning and water
treatment chemicals
•They must have a good bond with the metal
•Heat exchangers use aluminium brass tubes and
muntz netal tube plate in the case of tube type fresh
water generator.

•For plate type, titanium plates are used for

condenser and evaporator.

•Demister is made of layered knitted wire of monel

metal.
 Maintenance of Fresh Water
Generator

Periodically carry out the following based on

maintenance schedule and condition –

•Sea water line strainers

•Clean the titanium plates/tubes to increase heat
transfer
How Scale Formation Occurs in Fresh Water
Generator

The performance of fresh water generator reduces

with the formation of scales because of reduction in
heat transfer efficiency.

Three scales which are normally found in fresh water

generators are:

Calcium Carbonate, CaCO3

Magnesium Hydroxide, Mg(OH)2
Calcium Sulphate, CaSO4
Calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide scale
formation mainly depends on the temperature of
operation.

Calcium sulphate scale formation depends mainly on

the density of the evaporator contents or brine.

The reaction takes place when sea water heated are:

Ca(HCO3)2 ————> Ca + 2HCO3
2HCO3 ————> CO3 + H2O + CO2
If heated up to approx. 80 degree Celsius
CO3 + Ca ————> CaCO3

If heated above 80 degree Celsius

CO3 + H2O ————> HCO3 + OH
Mg + 2OH ————> Mg(OH)2

Hence if the sea water in the fresh water generator is

heated to a temperature below 80 degree Celsius,
calcium carbonate scale predominates.

If sea water is heated above 80 degree Celsius,

magnesium hydroxide scale is deposited.
If the density of evaporator contents is in excess of
96000 ppm, calcium sulphate scales are formed.

But fresh water generator brine density is normally

80000 ppm and less.

Hence scale formation due to calcium sulphate is not

a problem.

Hence it is recommended to operate fresh water

generator at its rated capacity, not more.
More production of water than rated capacity means
higher concentration of brine and more scale
formation.

Similarly higher shell temperatures result in formation

of hard scales which will be difficult to remove.

All these together will reduce the plant efficiency

drastically.
 Continous Chemical Treatment
• The chemical is an organic polyelectrolyte with anti
foaming property and minimises scale formation.
It can be used in evaporators producing water for
drinking purposes.
It is continuously fed into the feed line by a
metering pump to avoid overdosing.
The compound is alkaline and should not be
ingested. Dosage is about 1-8 ppm of evaporator
feed.
 Continous Chemical Treatment
• Polyphosphate compounds with anti foaming
property (VAP Treat or Ameroyal)
This prevents formation of calcium carbonate scale.
It is non toxic, non acidic, relatively cheap and safe
to handle.

Dosage in feed line is about 2-4 ppm of evaporator

feed.

Should be used at temperatures below 90 degC.

•Ferric Chloride is a stable, non explosive,
hygroscopic, non toxic and when dry is a non acidic
compound.

When mixed with water it becomes acidic, hence

protective clothing must be worn when handling.

It completely prevents the formation of calcium

carbonate and magnesium hydroxide scales when
used correctly.
 Continous Chemical Treatment

The concentrated solution is injected into the

evaporator feed system through plastic injection
equipment.

When it is in the system it is very dilute and quite

safe.
 Reason for Distillate Treatment

The low operating temperature of the evaporator is

insufficient to sterilize the product.

Despite precautions near the coast harmful organisms

exist and also the storage tank may be infested with
bacteria.

Sterilization is done by chlorination.

Also since there are no dissolved solids taste is flat,
water is slightly acidic due to absorption of CO2.

Water passed through a carbon filter removes the

chlorine taste.