Active Drainage of Marine Engine Cooling Systems
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inboard marine internal combustion engines face challenges in fully draining cooling water due to their submerged position, leading to potential corrosion and the need for more expensive, heavier cast iron components, as gravity alone is insufficient for complete drainage.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a pump configured to actively draw cooling water out of the engine's cooling system in response to engine stop commands or low engine speed, with an air trap, valve, or riser to prevent water re-entry, ensuring complete drainage and allowing the use of lighter aluminum components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gravity-based natural draining is used for submerged engine cooling systems, then the system structure is simple, but complete drainage cannot be achieved leading to corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the engine's own operational states (running vs. stopped) to automatically control drainage. The pump activates automatically when the engine stops and deactivates when the engine runs, eliminating the need for manual intervention or complex control systems while ensuring complete drainage to prevent corrosion
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs a hydraulic pump to actively remove cooling water from the submerged engine's cooling system. This mechanical fluid removal system overcomes the limitation of gravity-based drainage in submerged positions, enabling complete drainage while maintaining system simplicity through automatic operation
2Reliability
If cast iron components are used to prevent corrosion in submerged engines, then corrosion resistance is improved, but weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary drainage action by activating the pump before corrosion can occur. By automatically draining cooling water when the engine stops, the system prevents water accumulation that would cause corrosion, thereby protecting lightweight aluminum components without requiring them to be replaced with heavier corrosion-resistant materials
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the harmful effect of engine shutdown (water accumulation leading to corrosion) into a beneficial trigger for drainage. The engine's operational state that previously caused problems (stopping and water remaining in the system) now automatically activates the pump to remove water, protecting lightweight components from corrosion
3Ease of operation
If manual drainage operations are required for submerged engines, then drainage can be controlled, but operator intervention and time are required
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage system serves itself by using the engine's operational status to automatically control the pump. When the engine stops, the pump automatically activates to drain the system; when the engine runs, the pump automatically deactivates. This eliminates the need for operator intervention and reduces drainage time to merely the pump operation duration
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively drains cooling water from the engine, reducing corrosion risks and enabling the use of aluminum components, thus improving engine design efficiency and reducing material costs.
Implementation Method 1
A pump is in fluid communication with the at least one engine cooling passage and is configured to pump cooling water out of the at least one engine cooling passage
Implementation Method 2
An air trap, valve, or riser prevents the cooling water from reentering the engine cooling system
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling system for a marine inboard internal combustion engine includes at least one engine cooling passage disposed in thermal communication with heat emitting portions of the engine. A pump is in fluid communication with the at least one engine cooling passage. The pump draws cooling water out of the at least one engine cooling passage. At least one outlet drain is downstream of the pump for discharging the cooling water that was pumped out of the at least one cooling passage. A switch activates the pump in response to the following: an operator command to stop the engine and/or a speed of the engine being below a threshold speed.