Reply To: JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: All About the Ship
Most ships use steam distillation for their freshwater generation for two reasons: 1) they’re surrounded by a good source and 2) they’ve got lots of residual heat available from the engines. They recoup the exhaust and coolant water heat from the diesels (or gas turbines, depending on the ship) to run the evaporators — which aren’t really boilers, as the heat the water to about 180F, then put it into a reduced-pressure vessel so that it flashes to vapor, which is collected, condensed, and treated to become potable fresh water.