# Steam Jet Air conditioning systems



## Burntisland Ship Yard (Aug 2, 2008)

Are they now just a distant memory?


----------



## stevekelly10 (Apr 3, 2012)

Burntisland Ship Yard said:


> Are they now just a distant memory?


I remember them ! heavy on bunkers and when they went wrong, could turn the accommodation into a sauna in minutes


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

(Steam ejector 'vacuum' above water) Texaco Denmark had the system I remember on by first trip as it failed. Later on I think Bridgeton had had it but was replaced as it took too much in the way of fuel.


----------



## Ian860B (Dec 17, 2015)

Yup! worked fine when the condenser was clean but soon fell away, had it on one ship that was going into dry dock in Bahrain the company wanted us to live on board during the docking, asked us how much shoreside steam would be required and could not believe the answer. Ended up being bused to and from an airconditioned hotel after two days on board without A/C
Jock(K)


----------



## Burntisland Ship Yard (Aug 2, 2008)

Thanks all, from memory on the Danish class when the system was in the mood, was definitely an extra blanket on the bunk. When it did not work...……..


----------



## Dave Lambert (Oct 26, 2013)

Sailed on a Wah Kwong tanker with this system. The vessel had very large accommodation for training cadets, although we never carried many. The system went "off" in the Perishing Gulf and we had to clean the condenser. Took us 8 hours of tube punching in shifts, due to the temps in the E.R. Of course lots of moaning from up top as it was "very hot" on the bridge and in the accomm. When we had it boxed up and running, I brought the accomm down to about 15 degrees C. Not a peep from anyone!


----------



## Ian860B (Dec 17, 2015)

We used to use a nasty chemical to clean the condenser only took a few hours circulation to clean. Probably banned today.
Jock


----------



## D1566 (Sep 7, 2009)

Matco Avon was my only experience of it; not used much due to North Sea trading but when it was called for, it was pretty effective.


----------



## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

Gulf of Oman, sea temperature starts to rise, condenser looses a wee bit of vacuum and steam jet starts on its inexorable path to uselessness. By the time the Texaco Denmark gets to Ras Tan it had become a heater, and a bloody good heater. Hated the frigging things, bugger the ozone layer give me a bottle of Freon any day.


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

As I recall the failure that occurred on my first trip was caused by the level controller of the 'vacuumed water' failing.

Makers gent sent out (I remember his whirling and clockwork psychrometer). All better.


----------



## stevekelly10 (Apr 3, 2012)

Varley said:


> As I recall the failure that occurred on my first trip was caused by the level controller of the 'vacuumed water' failing.
> 
> Makers gent sent out (I remember his whirling and clockwork psychrometer). All better.


That's what happened to ours, on the "Shoush" An Irano\BP tanker. The float had fell off !


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

I am not sure she was not mine in Denholms as (assistant) superintendent. So I must ask why didn't you put the bloody thing back on?

(Tochal was the other I think - the memory is not firm as I was already on my way 'home' wearing a more proper cap - Strange thing was that I knew Alvand quite well and I knew neither of 'mine' a jot until visiting Tochal off Cadiz as her IG fan motors were burning out.)


----------



## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

As a cadet it was my job to whirl the Sling Psychrometer. Not because it was a difficult or arduous task but because the 3/E did not want to look like a *****. My instruction was to find out what RH the Chief wanted and make sure my readings were within a few degrees of his desired value.
I always listened to good advice.


----------



## Sergio Adofaci (May 7, 2011)

*Steam Jet Chiller .*

I was Director of Engineering at a Metropolitan Hospital in Melbourne where a Steam Jet Chiller was installed and it worked like a clock. You must have an existing steam plant with higher steam pressure ( ~15-17 Bars ) and capacity to supply steam to the Steam Jet Chiller. Produced chilled water at 6 C and stored in a large chilled water tank then pumped around the hospital`s fan coils units.Small electrical load , low maintenance.


----------



## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

I have no doubt your Chiller worked like a clock or as we would say, a wee sewing machine. Bolt it onto a bulkhead or weld it in the fridge flat and things have a habit of unravelling. And the dog eared manual looks as if it was printed in the basement of the tower of babel. Hours of innocent fun, hot sweaty fun.


----------



## oldgoat1947 (Apr 5, 2018)

Re steam vacuum AC systems. I sailed on a couple of ships with them and regular cleaning of the condensers was a must. they apparently work well on shoreside with cleaner cooling water. We did have a problem on one ship. the boilers were shut down for extensive repairs. We jury rigged two water driven eductors to create a vacuum driven off the fire / GS pump it did cool the accommodation down, but not as efficient as the steam On stem we used an extra 6 or 7 tonnes of fuel a day in Port at sea the WHU at full speed was just enough for the job. If you reduced speed you needed to flash up the boiler. As the ship was a Tanker carrying heated crude. It was always logged as fuel for cargo heating on loaded passages.


----------



## Ghost (Aug 7, 2008)

Varley said:


> (Steam ejector 'vacuum' above water) Texaco Denmark had the system I remember on by first trip as it failed. Later on I think Bridgeton had had it but was replaced as it took too much in the way of fuel.


The Odense class A.C. Was a reliable system, the only fault was that in ballast it was necessary to throttle in the overboard to maintain the sea water cooling level in condenser. The Kiel class did not have this problem.
The plant in the Bridgeton was totally reliable, and not too heavy in bunkers, I made sure the condenser was opened up every month, a quick routine job on a cool day and reliable ice cold when next required.
When the Bridgeton bumped into that mine early one morning, it was necessary to go into Dubai Drydock for repairs in mid July. The wife and I slept behind the main switchboard for the first few nights. An hotel package container unit consisting of two compressors and chillers was landed on the funnel deck and piped into the main fan chilled water units to enable AC to be supplied throughout the accommodation block. A success. The package AC container remained on board, as a spare AC system after docking, and was still there when I next saw the Pacific Blue going up the beach at Alang, although the steam jet plant was back in use by then.

Alan


----------



## Burntisland Ship Yard (Aug 2, 2008)

Ghost said:


> The Odense class A.C. Was a reliable system, the only fault was that in ballast it was necessary to throttle in the overboard to maintain the sea water cooling level in condenser. The Kiel class did not have this problem.
> 
> Well well just brought back further memories, on my first trip on the Norway, one of the first things I was taught was about the GS line manual overboard valve, the control valve which was mounted on the bulkhead never worked. My task was if the diesel was going to be started, I was down on the plates watching for the GS line pressure to drop when the cooler control valve on the diesel opened, shut the over board in until you got 4.9 kg...……………….


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

Ghost said:


> The Odense class A.C. Was a reliable system, the only fault was that in ballast it was necessary to throttle in the overboard to maintain the sea water cooling level in condenser. The Kiel class did not have this problem.......
> Alan


Thank you Alan, interesting. I cannot remember whether it was on Texaco Spain (where I expected the same as Denmark which it wasn't I don't think) or on Bridgeton that I got the idea it was on fuel basis that its use had been discontinued. I visited her twice, once in PG. and once in Rotterdam, particularly in regard of the hazardous area lighting. I rather wanted to get stuck into the Hokushin Logger (with which I had had fun on Texaco Spain with Ted Alford) I don't think that was fixed in 'our time' and was not a priority of either the staff or of Houston Office, do you know if it ever got fixed?

The problem on Texaco Denmark had something to do with the level control of the vessel under vacuum and an expert joined in Capetown after which it gave no more trouble.


----------



## Mike32 (Dec 16, 2020)

Varley said:


> Thank you Alan, interesting. I cannot remember whether it was on Texaco Spain (where I expected the same as Denmark which it wasn't I don't think) or on Bridgeton that I got the idea it was on fuel basis that its use had been discontinued. I visited her twice, once in PG. and once in Rotterdam, particularly in regard of the hazardous area lighting. I rather wanted to get stuck into the Hokushin Logger (with which I had had fun on Texaco Spain with Ted Alford) I don't think that was fixed in 'our time' and was not a priority of either the staff or of Houston Office, do you know if it ever got fixed?
> 
> The problem on Texaco Denmark had something to do with the level control of the vessel under vacuum and an expert joined in Capetown after which it gave no more trouble.


The steam jets eroded the condenser tubes on the danmark and filled the feed system with salt water, gauge glasses climbing. Had to remove the jets and blank off the leaking tubes in the condenser.


----------

