Hollow keel heat exchanger for marine vessels
OwnerAlbert D. Groverinventor
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Abstract
A marine vessel having a hull with a hollow keel, generally of a non-metallic material, and an engine cooled by a closed-loop, fresh water circulating cooling system. The keel is formed as a hollow keel chamber which has entry and exit apertures for circulating sea water through the chamber. A portion of the fresh water cooling system passes through the hollow keel chamber in heat exchange relation to the sea water providing a simple and efficient heat exchanger for cooling the engine.
Claims6
In a marine vessel having a hull with a downwardly projecting closed hollow keel and propulsion means cooled by closed loop, fresh water circulating cooling means, the improvement which comprises:
- means sealing said hollow keel from the hull interior to form a keel chamber;
- means providing for the circulation of sea water through the keel chamber when the vessel is moving through the water comprising inlet apertures in at least one side of the keel and at least one outlet aperture in the rear end of the keel;
- and
- wherein the cooling means includes heat exchange means disposed in said keel chamber and operative with the sea water circulating therethrough to effect heat exchange and thereby cool the fresh water in the cooling means.
In a marine propulsion system having a closed-loop, fresh water circulating cooling means for use in a vessel having a hull with a downwardly projecting closed hollow keel, the improvement comprising means for cooling the fresh water with sea water including means sealing the hollow keel from the hull interior to form a keel chamber, means providing for the circulation of sea water through the keel chamber when the vessel is moving through the water comprising inlet apertures in at least one side of the keel and at least one outlet aperture in the rear end of the keel, and wherein the cooling means includes heat exchange means disposed in the keel chamber and operative with the sea water circulating therethrough to effect heat exchange and thereby cool the fresh water in the cooling means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.