Water jacket
Encyclopedia
A water jacket is a water-filled void
surrounding a device, typically a metal sheath having intake and outlet vents to allow water to be pumped through the void. The flow of water to an external heating or cooling device allows precise temperature control of the device.
. They are also used in laboratory glassware
: Liebig, Graham, and Allihn condensers. Water jackets were used to cool the barrels of machine gun
s at the time of the First World War, but modern machine guns are air-cooled.
In a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine
the water jacket is a series of holes either cast or bored through the main engine block and connected by inlet and outlet valves to a radiator
.
Equipment such as tissue culture
incubators may be enclosed in a water jacket kept at a constant temperature.
Void
-In science and engineering:*Void , the empty spaces between galaxy filaments*Lack of matter, or vacuum*Void, in boiling heat transfer, formed where there is a departure from nucleate boiling, causing a critical heat flux...
surrounding a device, typically a metal sheath having intake and outlet vents to allow water to be pumped through the void. The flow of water to an external heating or cooling device allows precise temperature control of the device.
Applications
Water jackets are often used in watercoolingWatercooling
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. As opposed to air cooling, water is used as the heat conductor. Water cooling is commonly used for cooling automobile internal combustion engines and large industrial facilities such as steam electric power plants,...
. They are also used in laboratory glassware
Laboratory glassware
Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment, traditionally made of glass, used for scientific experiments and other work in science, especially in chemistry and biology laboratories...
: Liebig, Graham, and Allihn condensers. Water jackets were used to cool the barrels of machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s at the time of the First World War, but modern machine guns are air-cooled.
In a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
the water jacket is a series of holes either cast or bored through the main engine block and connected by inlet and outlet valves to a radiator
Radiator (engine cooling)
Radiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
.
Equipment such as tissue culture
Tissue culture
Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells separate from the organism. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, such as broth or agar...
incubators may be enclosed in a water jacket kept at a constant temperature.