The Engineering Diary

Power Generation On Ships: A ship is equivalent to a floating city that enjoys almost all privileges available to any operational set-up on land. Just like any conventional city, the ship also requires the basic amenities to sustain life on board, the chief among them being power or electricity. Electricity on ships is generated by an alternator or generator. Shipboard power is generated when a prime mover and alternator works together. For this purpose, an alternating current generator is used on board. The generator works on the principle that as a magnetic field rotating around a conductor varies, a current is induced in the conductor. The generator consists of a stationary set of conductors, wound in coils of iron core also known as the stator. A rotating magnet known as rotor turns inside this stator, producing a magnetic field, which cuts across the conductor and generates an induced EMF or electro-magnetic force as the mechanical input causes the rotor to turn. The magnetic fiel

Operation of the turbo charger on a diesel engine In a four stroke engine, exhaust gases flow from each cylinder into the exhaust manifold and then past the turbine blades of the turbo charger. With the engine running at full speed, the turbo charger can obtain speeds up to 100,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). The air compressor blades will revolve at the same speed. Air is drawn through the air cleaner and forced under pressure into the intake manifold. When the inlet valve opens on the induction stroke, with the piston descending in its cylinder, air is forced into the cylinder. It is necessary to reduce the turbo charger speed in stages or slowly for two reasons: If the engine speed is reduced from full engine speed to stop quickly and the bearings of the turbo charger are lubricated by the main engine driven lubricating oil pump, the engine, on stopping, will cease to supply the lubricating oil to the turbo charger bearings. Because of its high speed, it will take some time for th

Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather. While renewable energy is often thought of as a new technology, harnessing natures power has long been used for heating, transportation, lighting, and more. Wind has powered boats to sail the seas and windmills to grind grain. The sun has provided warmth during the day and helped kindle fires to last into the evening. But over the past 500 years or so, humans increasingly turned to cheaper, dirtier energy sources such as coal and fracked gas.  Now that we have increasingly innovative and less-expensive ways to capture and retain wind and solar energy, renewables are becoming a more important power source, accounting for more than one-eighth of U.S. generation. The expansion in renewables is also happening at scales large and small, from rooftop solar p

 Engine Terms Every Marine Engineer Should Know Viscosity of Oils Viscosity of oil is defined as the ability of the oil to flow. It is the property of the liquid which tends to prevent relative movement between adjacent parts within itself. Generally, thicker the fluid, higher is its viscosity; whereas thinner liquids have lower viscosity. Viscosity Index Viscosity Index is a term which is mainly related to marine lubricating oils. It can be defined as the change in viscosity of the oil which takes place as a result of change of temperature. Higher the viscosity index of the lubricating oil better is the quality. This means that lubricating oil with higher viscosity index has only a small change as a result of large temperature difference. As a general practice, various additives are added in the oil to improve the viscosity index of the lubricating oil. Viscosity index is a dimensionless number. Cloud Point Cloud point is the term which is related to the wax formation in the oil.

Synchronization of generators is an activity that is carried out quite often on ship. It is a prerequisite that each and every engineer on the ship knows the procedure thoroughly. In emergencies, the engineers are required to carry out the process manually in extremely limited amount of time. Introduction It's a known fact that marine generators are the heart of any type of ship.Maritime law requires that every ship should have at least two generators. Nowadays all the ships have around 2-3 generators on board. More number of generators are used to facilitate load sharing and to prevent wear down due to excessive load. Maintenance of generators at regular interval of time is extremely important. In this article we will learn the process of generator synchronization when multiple machines are required or one of the generators needs to the stopped and the other started in its place Say for example if a ship has three generators on board, two are used under normal working conditions a

Marine engineering is a close cousin of mechanical engineering and covers a wide spectrum of subjects within itself. Basically it relates to the machinery and other equipment on board ships which include, but is not limited to the following.       2-Stroke engines: a normal sized ship contains at least one main propulsion plant that is concerned with the rotation of the propeller. The engine normally starts off on diesel later changed over to heavy fuel oil to save costs.       4-Stroke engines: normally there could be 3 auxiliary engines on a ship which are four stroke engines running on diesel/heavy fuel oil which are used to supply the power needs of the vessel including other machineries, accommodation power, cranes, hatches etc.       Oil purifiers: a ship contains several types of oil such as heavy fuel oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil etc in tanks and appropriate storage spaces. This oil needs to be purified prior to consumption which is done with the help of centrifuges or puri