SeaWaterDistiller

Overview

The SeaWaterDistiller is working on the well-known vacuum distillation principle. Waste heat from the main engine on board is utilized as heating medium for evaporation. The evaporation takes place in the evaporation plate bundle located in the lower part of the housing. A part of the incoming sea water evaporates due to the high vacuum inside the housing. The generated vapor is cleaned from sea water droplets while flowing through a wire mesh demister.

Generation of fresh water from sea water

The condensation takes place in the condenser plate bundle located in the upper part of the housing. The condenser is cooled by sea water. The latent heat from condensation is transferred to the sea water. The condensation / evaporation temperature varies with the sea water temperature. A small portion of the heated sea water is utilized as feed water for the evaporator bundle. The biggest part is used as driving medium for the combined air- / brine ejector.

This ejector has a double function: Extraction of the surplus sea water (so-called brine) out of the housing and vacuum creation by exhaust of the non-condensable gases. The distillate quality (salinity) is monitored at the control panel. If the salinity exceeds the adjusted set point (2 – 10 ppm) the distillate is rejected back to the evaporator via a solenoid valve.