Water Injection System for Exhaust Gas Cooling of Warships

Abstract

Warships are increasingly susceptible to detection and engagement by infrared-guided missile systems, necessitating effectivesuppression of exhaust-related thermal signatures. Conventional infrared suppression systems (IRSS) primarily rely on atmospheric air entrainment to reduce exhaust gas temperature; however, advancements in sensor technologies have limited their effectiveness in achieving higher levels of suppression.To overcome this limitation, water injection in the form of fine droplets is introduced into the exhaust stream, enabling enhanced heat extraction through both sensible cooling and latent heat absorption during evaporation.

This study presents an integrated design methodology for a water injection system (WIS) for marine platforms, incorporating nozzle selection criteria, computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based thermal analysis, and experimental validation. The approach enables systematic optimization of exhaust cooling performance and provides a practical framework for achieving advanced infrared signature suppression.