Arrangement for avoiding high temperatures in a urea tank of a ship

Abstract

This invention discloses a high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank, comprising an air conditioning condensate tank and a urea tank. The urea tank is located inside the air conditioning condensate tank, and five sides of the urea tank directly contact the condensate in the air conditioning condensate tank for heat exchange. The remaining side of the urea tank faces the ship's engine room and shares the same bulkhead with the air conditioning condensate tank. An insulation layer is provided on the outer area of ​​this shared bulkhead corresponding to the urea tank. The air conditioning condensate tank has a condensate inlet and a condensate outlet. The condensate inlet is located at the bottom or lower part of the air conditioning condensate tank; the condensate outlet is located at the upper part of the air conditioning condensate tank to discharge excess condensate, keeping the condensate flowing and maintaining a low temperature. This invention utilizes the ship's own air conditioning condensate to perform five-sided immersion cooling of the urea tank, requiring no additional power, effectively controlling the urea temperature below 25°C, extending the shelf life of urea, and reducing ship construction and operating costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of shipbuilding technology, and specifically to a structure for avoiding high temperatures in a ship's urea tank. Background Technology

[0002] With the International Maritime Organization's increasingly stringent requirements for ship emissions, ships are required to be equipped with SCR systems to reduce NOx emissions from engine exhaust to meet Tier III standards. SCR systems require urea solution as a reducing agent, therefore, urea tanks are necessary on board for urea storage. The storage temperature of the urea solution significantly affects its shelf life; urea is prone to decomposition at temperatures exceeding 35°C, and storage temperatures below 35°C are generally required to ensure a usable lifespan of at least six months.

[0003] Currently, urea tanks are primarily cooled using either seawater or freshwater. When using seawater cooling, the urea temperature can easily exceed 35°C when the seawater temperature exceeds 30°C, leading to urea decomposition. Freshwater cooling requires additional chiller equipment, increasing the ship's electrical load and operating costs. Both methods necessitate the additional installation of cooling water pumps, heat exchangers, and other equipment, further increasing the ship's construction costs and energy consumption.

[0004] To address the aforementioned issues, existing technologies include methods for cooling urea tanks using air conditioning condensate. For example, Chinese patent application CN202511403723.0 discloses a method for insulating a urea storage tank. This method collects condensate from the air conditioning unit and introduces it into a heating and cooling coil installed inside the storage tank, using the condensate flowing through the coil to cool the urea solution. While this solution utilizes the condensate, it still requires a coil structure inside the urea tank, increasing the complexity of the piping arrangement. The coil's heat exchange area is limited, and a drain pump is also needed to transfer the condensate, thus limiting the cooling efficiency.

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for ship urea tanks that requires no additional power, has high heat exchange efficiency, and has a simple structure, in order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to address the shortcomings of existing technologies by providing a structure for avoiding high temperatures in ship urea tanks. This structure utilizes the condensate from the ship's own air conditioning system to perform five-sided immersion cooling of the urea tank, thereby achieving effective temperature control of the urea solution.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0008] A high-temperature avoidance structure for a ship's urea tank includes: an air conditioning condensate tank for storing condensate generated by the ship's air conditioning system; and a urea tank for storing urea solution. The urea tank is located inside the air conditioning condensate tank, with five sides of the urea tank in direct contact with the condensate in the air conditioning condensate tank for heat exchange. The remaining side of the urea tank faces the ship's engine room and shares the same bulkhead with the air conditioning condensate tank. An insulation layer is provided on the outer area of ​​the shared bulkhead corresponding to the urea tank. The air conditioning condensate tank has a condensate inlet and a condensate outlet. The condensate inlet is located at the bottom or lower part of the air conditioning condensate tank and is connected to the condensate collection device of the ship's air conditioning system via a gravity pipe for introducing air conditioning condensate. The condensate outlet is located at the upper part of the air conditioning condensate tank for discharging excess condensate, thereby keeping the condensate in the air conditioning condensate tank flowing and maintaining a low temperature.

[0009] Preferably, the urea tank includes a first urea tank and a second urea tank, which are symmetrically arranged inside the air conditioning condensate tank along the centerline of the ship.

[0010] Preferably, each urea tank is equipped with an outlet pipe and a return pipe for urea solution, wherein the outlet pipe is located at the bottom of each urea tank and the return pipe is located at the top of each urea tank.

[0011] Preferably, the insulation layer is a heat-insulating material layer used to block the transfer of heat from the cabin to the urea tank.

[0012] Preferably, the condensate outlet is connected to the ship's drainage system or condensate recovery system via an overflow pipe. When the condensate level in the air conditioning condensate tank exceeds the condensate outlet, the excess condensate is automatically discharged.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0014] 1. This invention utilizes the condensate generated by the ship's air conditioning system itself as a cooling medium, eliminating the need for an additional seawater or freshwater cooling system and avoiding the impact of seawater temperature fluctuations on the cooling effect.

[0015] 2. This invention adopts a "cabin-within-a-cabin" arrangement, in which the urea tank is directly submerged in the air conditioning condensate tank. This eliminates the need for complex heating and cooling coils inside the urea tank, simplifying the internal piping structure and reducing construction difficulty and maintenance costs. At the same time, the urea tank and the air conditioning condensate tank share a single wall, reducing the amount of wall material used and further lowering construction costs.

[0016] 3. This invention introduces condensate through gravity pipelines, eliminating the need for additional power equipment; it utilizes the condensate generated by the ship itself as a cooling resource, thus realizing the resource utilization of wastewater; the condensate in the air conditioning condensate tank is kept flowing through bottom inlet and top overflow, ensuring that the cooling medium is always at a low temperature, without requiring additional energy consumption. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structural arrangement for preventing high temperatures in a ship's urea tank.

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure in which the first and second urea tanks are symmetrically arranged in the air conditioning condensate tank.

[0019] Among them, 1-air conditioning condensate tank, 2-air conditioning unit, 3-urea tank, 4-insulation layer, 5-condensate inlet, 6-condensate outlet, 7-liquid outlet pipe, 8-liquid return pipe Detailed Implementation

[0020] The present invention will be further illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and not for limiting the scope of the invention. After reading this invention, any modifications of the invention in various equivalent forms by those skilled in the art will fall within the scope defined by the appended claims.

[0021] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "setting," "connection," "fixed connection," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Unless otherwise explicitly limited, those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0022] In this invention, terms such as "upper," "lower," "bottom," and "top" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are merely relational terms determined for the convenience of describing the structural relationship of the various components or elements of this invention, and do not specifically refer to any component or element in this invention, and should not be construed as limiting this invention.

[0023] like Figures 1 to 2 As shown, the present invention provides a high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank, including an air conditioning condensate tank and a urea tank.

[0024] Air conditioning condensate tank 1 is used to store the condensate generated by the air conditioning unit 2 during the operation of the ship's air conditioning system. The temperature of the air conditioning condensate is usually 12°C to 15°C, and the amount of condensate generated increases accordingly with the increase of ambient temperature. Taking a 14,000 TEU ship as an example, when the temperature reaches 30°C, the daily condensate volume can reach 8 tons, which can provide sufficient cooling water for the urea tank.

[0025] The urea tank 3 is located inside the air conditioning condensate tank. Specifically, the urea tank has a rectangular structure, with all five sides located inside the air conditioning condensate tank, directly contacting the condensate inside and exchanging heat through conduction via the tank walls. The remaining side of the urea tank faces the ship's engine room and shares the same tank wall with the air conditioning condensate tank. An insulation layer 4 is installed on the outer area of ​​this shared tank wall, corresponding to the urea tank. The insulation layer is made of heat-insulating material and is used to prevent heat transfer from the high-temperature environment inside the engine room to the urea tank, thus avoiding the engine room heat affecting the cooling effect of the urea tank.

[0026] The air conditioning condensate tank is equipped with a condensate inlet 5 and a condensate outlet 6. The condensate inlet is located at the bottom or lower part of the air conditioning condensate tank and is connected to the condensate collection device of the ship's air conditioning system via a gravity pipe. Air conditioning condensate flows into the bottom of the air conditioning condensate tank by its own gravity. The condensate outlet is located at the upper part of the air conditioning condensate tank and is connected to the ship's drainage system or condensate recovery system via an overflow pipe. When the condensate level in the air conditioning condensate tank exceeds the condensate outlet, the excess condensate automatically overflows and is discharged, thus maintaining a continuous flow of condensate in the air conditioning condensate tank and ensuring that the cooling medium is always kept at a low temperature.

[0027] The urea tank is equipped with an outlet pipe 7 and a return pipe 8 for urea solution. The outlet pipe is located at the bottom of the urea tank and is used to output the urea solution to the SCR system; the return pipe is located at the top of the urea tank and is used to return unused urea solution to the urea tank. Both the outlet and return pipes are centrally located on a common bulkhead on the side of the urea tank facing the engine compartment, facilitating the installation, inspection, and maintenance of the pipelines.

[0028] The urea tanks include a first urea tank and a second urea tank, which are symmetrically arranged along the ship's centerline inside the air conditioning condensate tank. This symmetrical arrangement makes full use of the internal space of the air conditioning condensate tank while ensuring a balanced cooling effect between the two urea tanks.

[0029] The principle and usage of the high-temperature avoidance structure for the urea tank of this ship:

[0030] During navigation, condensate generated by the air conditioning system flows by gravity into the bottom of the condensate tank. The condensate gradually fills the tank, submerging all five sides of the urea tank. The condensate exchanges heat with the tank walls, absorbing heat from the urea solution and lowering its temperature. When the condensate level rises to the upper condensate outlet, excess condensate automatically overflows, maintaining a constant flow and ensuring the tank temperature remains between 12°C and 15°C.

[0031] Because all five sides of the urea tank are in direct contact with condensate, the heat exchange area is large and the cooling efficiency is high, enabling the urea solution temperature to be stably controlled below 25°C. Meanwhile, the side of the urea tank facing the engine compartment is equipped with an insulation layer, effectively blocking heat radiation and conduction from the high-temperature environment of the engine compartment, further ensuring the low-temperature storage conditions of the urea tank.

[0032] The foregoing description illustrates and describes preferred embodiments of the present invention. As previously stated, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the forms disclosed herein and should not be construed as excluding other embodiments. It can be used in various other combinations, modifications, and environments, and can be altered within the scope of the inventive concept described herein through the foregoing teachings or techniques or knowledge in related fields. Any modifications and variations made by those skilled in the art that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention should be within the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank, characterized in that, include: The air conditioning condensate tank is used to store condensate generated by the ship's air conditioning system. It also includes a urea tank for storing urea solution. The urea tank is located inside the air conditioning condensate tank, with five sides in direct contact with the condensate for heat exchange. The remaining side of the urea tank faces the ship's engine room and shares the same bulkhead with the air conditioning condensate tank. An insulation layer is provided on the outer area of ​​the shared bulkhead corresponding to the urea tank. The air conditioning condensate tank has a condensate inlet and a condensate outlet. The condensate inlet is located at the bottom or lower part of the air conditioning condensate tank and is connected to the ship's air conditioning system's condensate collection device via a gravity pipe for introducing air conditioning condensate. The condensate outlet is located at the top of the air conditioning condensate chamber to drain excess condensate, thereby keeping the condensate in the air conditioning condensate chamber flowing and maintaining a low temperature.

2. The high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: The urea tank includes a first urea tank and a second urea tank, which are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides of the ship's centerline inside the air conditioning condensate tank.

3. The high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each urea tank is equipped with an outlet pipe and a return pipe for urea solution. The outlet pipe is located at the bottom of each urea tank, and the return pipe is located at the top of each urea tank.

4. The high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: The insulation layer is a heat-insulating material layer used to block the transfer of heat from the cabin to the urea tank.

5. The high-temperature avoidance arrangement structure for a ship's urea tank according to claim 1, characterized in that: The condensate outlet is connected to the ship's drainage system or condensate recovery system via an overflow pipe. When the condensate level in the air conditioning condensate tank exceeds the condensate outlet, the excess condensate is automatically discharged.

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