Replaceable Valve Module for Tank Ventilation Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventilation valves for service tanks on ships are difficult to maintain and inspect, leading to potential contamination of tanks with seawater, which can compromise the ship's stability and engine operation, due to the need for complex testing of float buoyancy and gasket sealing abilities.
Innovation Solution
A replaceable valve module design with a socket and cover part that allows easy access and inspection, where the ventilation channel extends through the bottom of the valve module, lifting the float to seal against the housing and preventing seawater ingress, and allows for separate removal of the 'valve brain' for maintenance, reducing pressure drop and enabling efficient ballast water handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ventilation valve uses a fixed gasket attached to the valve body, then the sealing function is maintained, but the maintenance complexity increases and inspection becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The valve is divided into separable components: the float body is detached from the valve body, and the gasket is made as a separate replaceable element. This segmentation allows each component to be independently inspected, maintained, or replaced without disassembling the entire valve, thus maintaining sealing reliability while reducing maintenance complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The float body is extracted as a separate removable component from the valve assembly. This allows the float to be easily removed for inspection of buoyancy and sealing surfaces, and replaced if necessary, without affecting the permanent parts of the valve body and gasket.
2Reliability
If the entire valve is disassembled for testing float buoyancy and gasket sealing, then complete functionality can be verified, but maintenance time and labor increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The valve components are segmented into independently testable units. The float body can be removed and tested separately for buoyancy, while the gasket remains attached to the valve body for sealing inspection. This eliminates the need to disassemble the entire valve for complete functionality verification, significantly reducing maintenance time while maintaining reliability checks.
3Device complexity
If the ventilation channel is fixed in the valve body, then the structure is simple, but access to the valve module for maintenance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation channel functionality is extracted and integrated with the removable float body rather than being fixed in the valve body. When the float body is removed for maintenance, the ventilation channel remains functional through the valve body opening, providing easy access to the valve module while maintaining structural simplicity.
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
Facilitates quick and efficient maintenance, reduces labor and time required for inspections, and ensures effective prevention of seawater entry into tanks, enhancing the stability and operational safety of ships by simplifying the maintenance process and eliminating pressure restrictions during ballast water handling.
Implementation Method 1
external water that might enter through the same ventilation channel elevates the float body to sealing against the valve housing
Data Source
AI summary
A ventilation valve (100) for ventilation of a tank (not shown) containing a liquid where the liquid surface fluctuates over time at the same time as the ventilation valve (100) obstructs external liquid to enter into the tank through the ventilation valve, is described. The ventilation valve (100) comprises a structural main housing (1, 2) containing a valve unit (3, 4, 5) and respective ventilation channels (6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16) providing open communication between the tank and the atmosphere, and the valve unit includes a movable float body (4) obstructing liquid ingress into the tank through said ventilation valve (100). The valve unit is in the form of a replaceable valve module which includes the float body (4) which is received in a valve housing (3). The structural main housing (1, 2) includes a socket part (2) and one from the socket part (2) releasable cover part (1) in order to provide access to the replaceable valve module (3, 4, 5).