Fresh water generating plant

1 Look through the scheme and discuss the questions in pairs:

- Why do we need fresh water onboard?

- What is the difference between fresh water for domestic needs and for auxiliary needs?

Fresh
water
onboar
d

Domestic needs Auxiliary needs

Feed water (for

example for
Drinking water Washing water Distilled water Cooling water
supplying to
steam generators

Vocabulary

2 Label the pictures using the words from the box

1. 2. 3.
fresh water generator;
vapor;
brine;
eductor;
to evaporate

4. 5.
3 Fill in the gaps from 2

1. If you heat the liquid you get ____________.

2. __________________ means to turn a liquid into a gas, especially by heating.
3. __________________ is a device, which produces freshwater from seawater by heating.
4. We call a concentrated mixture of water with salt _____________.
5. A device, used to maintain pressure and help to maintain vacuum is called ___________.

Reading

4 Name as many applications of fresh water on board as possible (but not less than 6)

5 Read the text. Match the headlines with the paragraphs.

A Use of Fresh water onboard

B Fresh Water Generator Arrangement
C What can we do to evaporate the water at 70 degrees Celsius?
D How can we get freshwater from seawater
E The least advantageous type of evaporators on merchant ships

_______________________________________

Fresh water generator is a device which produces freshwater from seawater by heating.
Fresh water produced from fresh water generator is used for drinking, cooking, washing and
even running other important machinery which use fresh water as a cooling medium.
________________________________________________________________
Fresh water is generally produced on board using the evaporation method. There are two
things that are available in plenty on ship to produce fresh water –Seawater and heat. Thus fresh
water is produced by evaporating sea water using heat from any of the heat source. The
evaporated sea water is then again cooled by the sea water and the cycle repeats.
________________________________________________________________
Generally the heat source is taken from the main engine jacket water, which is used for
cooling the main engine components such as cylinder head, liner etc. The temperature available
from this jacket water is about 70 deg. Celsius . But at this temperature the evaporation of water
is not possible as we all know that the evaporation of water takes place at 100 degrees Celsius
under atmospheric pressure.
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.
__________________________________________________________________
Nowadays, reverse osmosis1 is one of the methods which are used on board for generating
fresh water. Generally this is used on passenger vessels wherein there is a large requirement of
fresh water production. But in merchant ships the reverse osmosis evaporation method is not
used as is expensive and includes large maintenance cost for membrane
__________________________________________________________________
The main body of a fresh water generator on the ship consists of a large cylindrical body
with two compartments. One of the compartments is the condenser and the other is the
evaporator. Evaporator is used to boil off the seawater and condenser is used to condense the
1
reverse osmosis* - is a water purification technology that uses a membrane to
remove ions, molecules and larger particles
fresh water vapors and collect them in liquid form for further use. The fresh water generator also
consists of an air/brine eductor (ejector) which helps in generating the required vacuum (it
removes incondensable gases like air or brine). The fresh water pump and ejector pump helps in
transfer of water to and from the fresh water generator.

6 a) Tick the correct function.

1) Condencer
a) boils off seawater b) condenses vapours and c) condenses seawater
collects them in liquid form
2) Evaporator
a) boils off seawater b) generates vacuum c) transfers generated
freshwater to fresh water tanks
3) Fresh water pump
a) condenses vapors and b)removes gases or brine c) transfers generated
collects them in liquid form freshwater to fresh water tanks
4) Air/brine eductor
a) generates vacuum by b) boils off seawater c) transfers generated
removing gases or brine; freshwater to fresh water tanks

b) Which part wasn’t mentioned? What is its function?

7 Correct the mistakes

1. Fresh water generator produces seawater from freshwater by cooling

2. We need to cool the seawater to evaporate it.
3. If we need to evaporate water at 70 degrees Celsius we need to increase pressure
4. It is impossible to use engine jacket cooling water as a source of heat for evaporation.
5. Reverse osmosis is the most preferable type of evaporators used on merchant ships.
6. Condenser and evaporator are the pumps, which transfer fresh water from freshwater
generator to fresh water pumps.
7. We need vacuum to boil water at higher temperature.
8. Eductor condenses vapor and collects it in liquid form for further use.

8 Complete the sentences

1. Evaporator is used for__________________________________.
2. To boil seawater at lower temperature we need __________________________________.
3. Fresh water generator uses following pumps:___________________________________.
They_____________________________________________________________________.
4. Air/brine eductors are designed to_____________________________________________.
5. Fresh water is of utmost importance onboard, because_____________________________.

Speaking

9 “Speaking triads”. “Speaker” speaks about fresh water generating plant. “Listener” – asks
questions. “Reporter” – makes notes and after that makes a conclusion.