F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

JIS F 0502-1978

Sea water temperature for designing marine heat exchange - Explanatory note

1. Purpose of constitution Since it is very difficult to determine the sea water temperature in designing
marine cooling system because of complex factors, to present the temperatures determined with some reasons is
very useful for public designers. Therefore this standard was constituted as part of the Japanese Industrial
Standards (Marine). The Engine special committee, Kanto department, Marine standards committee was in
charge of preparation of the draft. The said committee was held five times after April 1949 to prepare the draft.
Then it was deliberated by the Engine design special committee, Ship department, Japanese Industrial Standards
Committee in May 1950. After the draft was adopted in Ships department and Standard council, it was
publicized in August 1950. Part of it was revised in the deliberations for review in 1956, 1960 and 1967. 1967
Revision was large scaled and the contents are shown in 2.1. The revision of this time was conducted under a
policy that while outlines of the 1967 Revision are kept, new ideas are incorporated into it. Revision as
deliberated several times at Engine design committee, Engine department, Japan Marine Standards Association
before revision draft was prepared. The contents are given in 2.2.

2. Content of revision
2.1 1967 Revision First, it was specified that sea water temperature reference was indicated by mean
values and maximum values separately and that the mean values are applied to the condenser and the maximum
values are applied to other cooling systems. However since it was founded that it was too vague for planning,
Kanto Zoki institute studies details only about ocean going area under cooperation of the Machinery study
committee, Kansai shipbuilding association, determining sea water temperature reference for each cooling
system as MESK H-2 “Sea water temperature of designing base for heat exchanger”. This standard determines
reference by navigation area and cooling devises.
2.2 1978 Revision This review was conducted for three types of heat exchangers: condenser for generator
steam turbine, drain cooler for tank cleaning heater and drain cooler for cargo oil heater. Regarding condenser
for generator steam turbine, condenser for turbine generator with exhaust gas economizer for diesel ship was
deliberated as well as condenser for turbine ship. Sea water temperature 24°C was adopted for performance in
designing and it was considered to be desirable that higher sea water temperature was adopted to check the
capacity .
Regarding drain cooler for tank cleaning heater, a revision that an idea of closed cycle system was
adopted to eliminate remarks in the text was conducted. An item of drain cooler for cargo oil heater was
introduced this time. Considering that required heated steam volume is maximized during winter, sea water
temperature reference was set relatively low.

3. Contents
3.1 Navigation area Navigation areas were classified into three of ocean going area, greater coasting area
and coasting area.
3.2 Sea water temperature in each navigation area Sea water temperature in each navigation area
differs by geographical conditions, influence of ocean currents, state of tides and changes by season.
Sea water temperature in each navigation area was determined based on the following ideas from Fig. 1 to 6
(explanatory note).
3.2.1 Sea water temperature in ocean going area Sea water temperature in the ocean going area is
supposed to be the highest near the equator, about 30°C. However, changes by season are great because
temperature sometimes goes up to about 35°C in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea under geographical conditions
during summer while 20°C during winter. On the other hand, it is about 0 to 5°C in the cold zone such as the
Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea etc.
When it is considered by the general ocean routs, mean sea water temperatures through four seasons are
supposed to be about 20°C on the North America route (between Japan and East coast of North America), about
25°C on the South America route (between North America and Buenos Aires of South America via Panama),
about 28°C on the European route (between Japan and Suez via Singapore), about 20°C in the Mediterranean
Sea, and about 24°C on another Africa coast route (via Cape Town)

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 F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note
When designing general heat exchangers with a purpose of cooling by sea water, sea water temperature is
safely set to be as high as possible. However, in tropical sea area where the sea water temperature is supposed to
be highest on ocean going route, the temperature differs less by season. Since the mean temperature is about
29°C, it can be assumed to be about 30°C.
Though sea water temperature sometimes goes up to about 35°C in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea
during summer, this temperature should not be adopted as reference because this is the temporary maximum
value in special ocean areas.
Accordingly, since effects to a cooling system that sea water temperature especially has a great effect on
operation of a ship, 32°C is supposed to be appropriate as the general highest sea water temperature after
excluding the temporary value in these special ocean areas.
It is generally supposed that the mean sea water temperature is about 24°C in any ocean areas through
any season in ocean going area.
3.2.2 Sea water temperature in greater coasting area The south end of the greater coasting area is at lat.
11° S. Since these sea areas generally provide the highest temperature of about 29°C at average, the highest
temperature can be set to be about 30°C.
Since routes of ships navigating greater coasting area (area in long. 175° E, and 94° W, lat. 11° S, and
63° N) is supposed to be located in tropical sea areas, mean sea water temperature in all of this area is not so
important for designing cooling systems and others. Therefore, this was not deliberated here.
3.2.3 Sea water temperature in coasting area The coasting area is generally within 20 nm. from the coast.
Since Japanese Islands are long north and south, sea water temperature differs by areas. It is considered that the
sea area is separated into some parts and sea water reference is determined for each area. However, since it is not
supposed to be a practical method for designing cooling systems, the reference was determined to be 28°C based
on about 26°C of sea water temperature in South Kyushu area during summer.
3.3 Sea water temperature of designing base for cooling systems Though some types of engines are
adopted in each sea area, generally speaking, most of ships navigating oceangoing area have internal combustion
engine or turbine engine and most of ships navigating greater coasting area and coasting area have internal
combustion engine. Therefore, after types of engines were determined by the navigating area, sea water
temperature of designing base for cooling systems was determined by the types of engine.
3.3.1 Sea water temperature of designing base for cooling systems on ships in ocean going area
Cooling systems are classified into cooling devises for main internal combustion engine, cooling devises
for generator internal combustion engine, cooling devises for main air compressor, cooling devises for
refrigerator, lub. oil cooler for main steam turbine, lub. oil cooler for aux. steam turbine, condenser for main
steam turbine, condenser for generator steam turbine, drain cooler for tank cleaning heater, drain cooler for
cargo cleaning heater and cooling devised other than the above. Sea water temperature of designing base was
allocated to each device.
Regarding cooling devises for main internal combustion engine, it is supposed that low cooling efficiency
may reduce main engine output, affecting ship operation. Therefore, its sea water temperature of designing base
was determined to be 32°C of the general highest sea water temperature.
It is not desirable for safety of ships that a generator reduces navigating load.
And since it is supposed that absorbed heat capacity of cooling devises is not so different even if load is
reduced because it is operated at constant rotational speed, sea water temperature of designing base of cooling
devises for generator internal combustion engine was determined to be 32°C as that of main internal combustion
engine.
Since it is supposed that cooling devises for main air compressor is one of main auxiliary machines
involved in propulsion, the sea water temperature of designing base was determined to be 32°C as that of main
internal combustion engine.
Since regarding refrigerator for frozen cargo, frozen food and air conditioning, increasing sea water
temperature matters very much to secure the performance, the sea water temperature of designing base was
determined to be 32°C as that of main internal combustion engine.
It is supposed that both of lub. oil cooler for main steam turbine and aux. steam turbine have a direct relation
with ship operation. Therefore, its sea water temperature of designing base was determined to be 32°C of the
general highest sea water temperature.
Regarding condenser for main steam turbine it is supposed that mean sea water temperature of 24°C is

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F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note
supposed to be good from the viewpoint of economical efficiency such as high initial cost for manufacturing
rather than deteriorating steam consumption rate of turbine because high sea water temperature collapses a
vacuum. Since the capacity of the a main boiler has some margin and the turbine nozzle area also has some
margin for the limit of steam flow even if steam consumption rate deteriorates more, it is supposed that normal
power at least can be obtained even at 32°C of sea water temperature. Therefore ship operation is not affected
critically. Considering domestic or foreign past performance 24°C is appropriate as reference temperature.
There are two types of vacuum generator steam turbine. One of them is used on turbine ship and another
one is a turbine on diesel ship that uses exhaust gas economizer generation steam. Since regarding these two
engines, the condenser itself are designed to go well with the machinery rated capacity even if collapsed vacuum
of condensers causes low steam consumption rate at high sea water temperature due to the machinery rated
capacity of both generally having a big margin for normal load, no problem occurs. Therefore, the sea water
temperature of designing base was determined to be 24°C as that of condenser for main steam turbine.
It is appropriate to design them so that even if required power load comes close to the rated capacity of
generator turbine, increment of steam volume required by generator turbines for lowered condenser vacuum
during summer are compensated by a design margin of nozzle area for turbines and by design margin of cooling
area for condensers.
Since capacity of exhaust gas economizer on diesel ship increases greatly during summer, it is considered
that the said increment of required steam volume mentioned above is no program generally and can be
compensated normally.
After all, in designing steam turbine plant, while 24°C of sea water temperature is appropriate from the
viewpoint of performance, it is desirable that higher sea water temperature is considered from the viewpoint of
capacity. To emphasize this point, Note is provided in the text, saying that consideration shall be taken for the
evaporation capacity of exhaust gas economizer, area of turbine nozzle and condenser.
Low sea water temperature has a problem for drain cooler for tank cleaning heater. Therefore it has been
said that consideration should be taken for sea water temperature of cold zone. However, recently from the
viewpoint of preventing sea water pollution, closed cycle in which washing sea water circulates between a slop
tank and a cargo oil tank is generally used. Since the temperature of sea water temperature in the slop tank rises
very much in this system, design reference temperature is standardized to be 20°C at least.
Though a system with open cycle may be used in some coolers, cooling sea water that comes out of
condensers is often used on this type. Considering the initial introduction cost, 20°C is good.
Regarding drain cooler for cargo cleaning heater, its performance has some problems during winter
because the largest amount of steam volume is required for heating during winter. Since sea water temperature
of this season is considered to be 5°C, it was standardized to be 10°C with some margin.
It is desirable for newly designed ships that 32°C of sea water temperature during summer is deliberated
(an amount of cargo oil heating steam shall be compared to that of winter. It is reduced greatly.)
Regarding sea water temperature of designing base for cooling devised other than the above, such as
distilling plant cooling system, atmospheric condenser, vacuum condenser for auxiliary machinery turbine
including cargo oil pump and drain cooler, it is supposed that the temperature does not have a critical affect on
ship operation. Therefore it is supposed that the sea water temperature can be standardized to be about 30°C of
the temperature at tropical area. However, it is desirable that the temperature for vacuum condenser for auxiliary
machinery turbine is determined based on deliberation of conditions such as navigation area, a method of use
and degree of vacuum according to its function.
3.3.2 Sea water temperature of designing base for cooling systems on ships in greater coasting area
Designing of ships navigating greater coasting area should be conducted based on tropical sea water
temperature. Therefore, sea water temperature for cooling system that has a direct relation with propulsion is
standardized to be 30°C of the highest sea water temperature in the area. However, sea water temperature of
designing base for cooling devised other than the above can be determined appropriately in reference to Fig. 1 to
6 (explanatory note) and Table (explanatory note) according to purpose of use and navigation area.
3.3.3 Sea water temperature of designing base for cooling systems on ships in coasting area Routes of
ships navigating the coasting area are often limited to a certain area generally. Therefore it is difficult to
determine a single reference temperature if sea water temperature change is relatively great by sea area like
Japan. However since it is supposed that to determine reference temperature for each area has little utility value,
sea water temperature for cooling system that has a direct relation with propulsion is standardized to be 28°C

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 F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note
based on summer sea water temperature at south Kyushu area that reach the highest in the coasting area.
However, sea water temperature of designing base for cooling devised other than the above can be
determined appropriately in reference to Fig. 1 to 6 (explanatory note) and Table (explanatory note)
according to purpose of use and navigation area.
4. Explanation of Fig. 1 to 6 (explanatory note)
(1) Fig. 1 to 4 (explanatory note) The world ocean surface sea water temperature shows mean
temperatures during summer and winter from 1950 to 1959 and are quotations from materials prepared by
the Japanese Meteorological Office.
(2) Fig. 5 (explanatory note) The world ocean surface sea water temperature (annual average) are
quotations from “Report on ocean anti-corrosion test on Atlas-Maru, a Japan industrial cruising trade fair
ship” published by the Japan Association of Corrosion Control on October 20, 1959.
(3) Fig. 6 (explanatory note) The Japanese coasting area surface sea water temperature (monthly
average) shows monthly average temperature on the sea close to the Japanese coast. Though Kushnai
coast is in territory of U.S.S.R, it remains on the figure.
Actual measurements at sea trial are added later to the data of Tokyo bay.

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 Fig. 1 (explanatory note) The world ocean surface sea water temperature during summer (°C)
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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Remarks: The figure was prepared by the Meteorological Office.

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 Fig. 2 (explanatory note) The world ocean surface sea water temperature during winter (°C)

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Remarks: The figure was prepared by the Meteorological Office.
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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 Fig. 3 (explanatory note) The Japanese coasting area surface sea water temperature during summer (°C)
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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Remarks: The figure was prepared by the Meteorological Office, showing mean sea water temperature in August 1950 to 1959.

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 Fig. 4 (explanatory note) The Japanese ocean surface sea water temperature during winter (°C)

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Remarks: The figure was prepared by the Meteorological Office, showing mean sea water temperature in February 1950 to 1959.
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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 Fig. 5 (explanatory note) The world ocean surface sea water temperature during winter (Annual average, °C)
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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The Atlantic Ocean
The Pacific Ocean

The Indian Ocean

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 Fig. 6 (explanatory note) The Japan coasting area surface sea water temperature during summer (Monthly average, °C)

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Remarks 1: (1) (2) (3) and (4) are actual measurements by actually navigating ships.
2: (5) is actual measurements at sea trial on Tokyo bay.
F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note

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F 0502: 1978 Explanatory note
Table (explanatory note)
Sea water temp. °C
Navigation area Remarks
Average Maximum
North of Miyako gulf on Pacific coast
North of lat. 40” N 15 20
North of Funakawa port on Japan Sea coast

Japanese Miyako gulf to Inubozaki on Pacific coast

Lat. 35” to 40” N 20 24
coasting Funakawa port to Hamada on Japan Sea coast
area South of Inubozaki on Pacific coast
Lat. 30” to 35” N 23 26
South of Hamada on Japan Sea coast
Lat. 20” to 30” N 25 28 —

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