subject: Marine Engineering [print this page] History of Marine Engineering History of Marine Engineering
One of the most notable historical figures in Marine Engineering was Archimedes, who experimented with buoyancy; developed the water screw; and pre-industrial naval weapon systems. Pioneers in Marine engineering in Britain include William Froude, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was responsible for demonstrating the effectiveness of the screw propeller, amongst other notable achievements. The oldest surviving marine engine was designed by William Symington in 1788; original engines from the revolutionary 'Turbinia', which proved the superiority of steam-turbine power still survive. In America, the University of Michigan's Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering can be tracked to an 1879 act of Congress, which authorised the U.S. Navy to assign a few officers to engineering training establishments around the country. Mortimer E. Cooley was the first lecturer in the department.[citation needed] India's Marine Engineering & Research Institute can trace its origins to 1929.[citation needed]
Marine Engines
Marine engineering emerged as a discipline with the arrival of Marine Engines for propulsion, largely during the latter half of the 19th century. Early marine engineers were known as "stokers" as they 'stoked' the coal fires of steam engined ships more or less from the middle of the 19th to the middle of the 20th centuries; the term is still used affectionately by modern ship's engineering staff to describe their role.
Modern mechanical propulsion systems generally consist of a motor or engine turning a propeller. Steam Engines were first used for this purpose, then Steam Turbines, but have mostly been replaced by two-stroke or four-stroke Diesel Engines, Outboard Motors, and with Gas Turbine engines on faster ships. Electric Motors have sometimes been used, especially on submarines. Nuclear reactors are sometimes employed to propel warships and icebreakers.[citation needed]
There are many variations of propeller systems, including twin, contra-rotating, controllable-pitch, and nozzle-style propellers. Smaller vessels tend to have a single propeller. Aircraft carriers use up to four propellers, supplemented with bow-thrusters and stern-thrusters. Power is transmitted from the engine to the propeller by way of a propeller shaft, which may or may not be connected to a gearbox.[citation needed]
Propeller shafts
Several type of propeller shafts exist with their own type of lubrication>. These types are:
Water lubricated propeller shaft
Oil-lubricated propeller shafts
Grease lubricated propeller shafts
Water-lubricated propeller shafts are the types which are most maintenance-free and durable. A small disadvantage is that when the bearings become old, they become less efficient. Oil-lubricated propeller shafts as well as grease-lubricated propeller shafts leak some oil, thus being less environmentally-friendly. In some countries, the grease-lubricated variant is herefore already banned. Oil and grease lubricated variants also require more maintenance, and the grease variant also needs to be manually or electronically corrected every few hours of boating (the "grease pot" then needs to be screwed up one notch). The benefits of the oil and grease variants is that they are more efficient.
Adding cathodic protection
Cathodic protection blocks need to be added to reduce the effects of corrosion unto a ship.
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