Marine Hydrophore system Working With A Simple Line diagram, How to Charge Hydrophore ?

 Marine Hydrophore system                       
             In ships ,fresh water is used for various purposes, like cooking, drinking, cleaning etc. Have you ever imagined  how the continuous water supply is made a reality, also  with enough force to meet the various demands in a ship?
It is here we need to discuss about the role of  Hydrophore.  It is capable of performing an array of actions including pumping, storing and supplying fresh water at a regular ,controlled pressure in marine ships.

Why hydrophore system is mandatory onboard ?
Hope you know that the demand of freshwater is different in different parts of the ship ranging from minimum consumption of freshwater to the maximum. If you are using a centrifugal pump directly to the fresh water line,the  pump will cut in and cut off frequently due to  small consumption of water  which drops the system pressure drastically (keep in mind water is incompressible). Here lies the significance of hydrophore. It serves as a pressurised reservoir, which keeps the system pressure in a particular range with the help of compressed air.

Here is a simple diagram of ship hydrophore system.

Working Of hydrophore tank
Let me explain the working of hydrophore tank in simple terms. It is impossible to compress water, so we provide the compressed air as a spring which will always press up the water in hydrophore tank and maintain the system pressure.
Hydrophore system consists of a hydrophore tank, centrifugal pumps, pressure switches, level gauges, pressure gauges etc.As shown in the figure , the centrifugal pump discharge leads in and out at the bottom of the hydrophore tank, on its way to the piping system. The tank contains water with compressed air at top of it. If the water is consumed ,then the air pressure will drop;  a pressure switch is connected to the tank so that whenever the air pressure falls below the set pressure, (aprox 2.5bar) it will start the pump. The pump builds up water in the tank and when the pressure hits the maximum(aprox 4.5bar) set pressure, it will cut off by the pressure switch.

Moundings in hydrophore system
Relief valve
Pressure switch
Pressure gauge
Level gauge

Procedure to charge the hydrophore system(Starting of hydrophore)
>Close outlet valve of the hydrophore
>Start the hydrophor pump in manual mode & keep an eye on the side glass . 
>Once your side glass is filled  with 70 % of water (some hydrophore having marking on level glass) then charge the tank with compressed air & put your hydrophore pump in auto mode. 
>Your pump will stop at the desired set pressure & then stop charging with compressed air.
> Open the hydrophore outlet valve.
> Monitor and check the hydrophore pump cut in and cut off at regular intervals.

What are the reason for continuous running of hydrophore pump?
>  Mainly continuous running of pump is due to the insufficient air pressure, so charge air as per manufacturer's instructions
>Due to wrong setting of pressure switches or faulty pressure switch.
> Problem with pump, such as loose suction, insufficient capacity, high water consumption rates etc.

If you know more about this, or having doubts please comment below

Thanks Ankith 

21 Comments


>> Your Comments are always appreciated...
>> Discussion is an exchange of knowledge It Make the Mariner Perfect.... Please Discuss below...

  1. what are undercharged and overcharged condition in Hydophore tank.?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you charge more air pressure than required then its called overcharged
      If you charge less air pressure than required then its called undercharged

      Delete
  2. why water is 70% and air is 30%?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. obviously system capacity will get reduced... and if you pressurize with large volume of air a large volume of water will be required to change the pressure in the system which may leads to late pump cut-in and losing of the pump suction.....

      Delete
  3. Further reason for continuous pump running is a leak in the system. Give a drop in system pressure which the pump will try to make up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, leakage or huge consumption of water also leads to the continues running of the motor

      Delete
  4. Frequently cut in and cut out Reason

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. low air pressure, malfunctioning or wrong adjustment of differential pressure switch, high consumption etc

      Delete
  5. why isnt ship water system used lil
    ke house pump system,i mean a centrifugal pump.a tank at top to max pressure supply ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Placing Tank at the top will make the C.G of the ship more higher and affects the ship stability.

      Delete
  6. Why hydropher system mounted bottom?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i dont understand your question. it is the best place to mount, engine room all the machinery are in engine room only

      Delete
  7. How the low pressure will transfer the water to various places?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Its not low pressure 3.5-6bar is the normal hydrophore pressure. It is enough to reach the water in various places of the ship

      Delete
  8. How the hydropher relief valve wil operate?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the hydrophore pressure exceed the set pressure of relief valve it will get operated. Only chance of exceed set pressure is at the time of air charging

      Delete
  9. Why hydropher not a centrifugal pump?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you use centrifugal pump instead of hydrophore you need to be a big pump because the consumption is varies according to the time and location. And pump will run continuously even if nobody consume water. which make the pump casing hot leads breakdown.

      Delete
  10. Does the centrifugal pump should be self-priming?

    ReplyDelete
  11. In last answer....
    This point can be added...
    •Air leakage in Hydrophore Tank

    ReplyDelete
Previous Post Next Post