Table of Contents
What is air independent propulsion system?
The following are the key features of the Air Independent Propulsion system: The Air Propulsion System allows the submarines to stay for longer hours in water. The submarines need to come to the surface of the water to charge its batteries. This is reduced by Air Propulsion System.
How long can a diesel electric submarine stay submerged?
Legacy, diesel-electric submarines can operate silently underwater for up to 48 hours, but they must surface after that to run a generator to recharge their batteries.
Where do submarine exhaust gases go?
In submarine installations, the gases of combustion are piped from the exhaust headers to the outside of the submarine through an in board and outboard main engine exhaust valve and muffler. The inboard exhaust valve is inside the pressure hull of the submarine and is hand operated.
What is air independent propulsion?
Abstract- Air Independent propulsion deals with powering a submarine without access to atmosphere or air. As we know that every diesel engine needs access to an air supply to work. So, a submarine using diesel engine stores air in tanks to maneuver underwater.
How did air independent propulsion (AIP) improve underwater endurance of submarines?
As battery technology improved, the endurance of these submarines increased proportionally. But it was not enough to last them beyond a week. The introduction of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), vastly improved the underwater endurance of these submarines and gave them a distinct advantage.
How does a submarine work underwater with a diesel engine?
So, a submarine using diesel engine stores air in tanks to maneuver underwater. So, the submarine has to resurface after every fixed interval in order to refill the air (oxygen) supply. This makes it difficult to have long stealthy operations under water in a submarine.
Can AIP replace the need for atmospheric dependent propulsion?
AIP does not normally provide the endurance or power to replace atmospheric dependent propulsion, but allows longer submergence than a conventionally propelled submarine. A typical conventional power plant provides 3 megawatts maximum, and an AIP source around 10\% of that.