Sump

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Sump

A sump is a low space that collects any often-undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals.

An example is the oil pan of an engine

Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs in a combustion chamber inside and integral to the engine. In an internal combustion engine it is always the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases that are produced by the combustion which apply force to the movable component of the engine, such as...
. The oil is used to lubricate the engine's moving parts and it pools in a reservoir, known as a sump, at the bottom of the engine. Use of a sump requires the engine to be mounted slightly higher to make space for it. Oil in the sump can surge during hard cornering, starving the oil pump

Oil pump

Oil pump may refer to:* A Submersible pump, often used to pump oil out of wells* A Pump jack, often used to pump oil out of wells* An Oil pump , a part of the lubrication system that transports engine oil...
; for these reasons, race and piston aero

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is a propulsion system for an aircraft. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines....
engines are "dry sump

Dry sump

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Encyclopedia

A sump is a low space that collects any often-undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals.

An example is the oil pan of an engine

Internal combustion engine

Oil pump

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is a propulsion system for an aircraft. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines....
engines are "dry sump

Dry sump

A dry sump is a lubricating oil management method for four-stroke cycle and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses a secondary external reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system....
ed" using scavenge pumps and a swirl tank to separate oil from air which is also sucked up by the pumps.

One common example of a sump is the lowest point in a basement into which any water that seeps in flows. If this is a regular problem, a sump pump

Sump pump

A sump pump is a pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a sump pit. A sump pit, commonly found in the home basement, is simply a hole to collect water....
that moves the water outside of the house may be used. If the building is a nuclear power plant's reactor housing, the role of the sump will be to collect any overflow of primary loop coolant; in this case, monitoring and pumping of the sump is an important part of the reactor's safety system.

Another example is in an aquarium, mainly a reef system. The sump sits below the main tank and is used as a filter, as well as a holding place of unsightly equipment such as heaters and protein skimmers. The main advantage of having a sump plumbed into an aquarium is the increase of water in the system, making it more stable and less prone to fluctuations of pH and salinity.

Sumps can also refer to infiltration basin

Infiltration basin

An infiltration basin , is a type of Best management practice for water pollution that is used to manage stormwater surface runoff, prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay....
s used to manage surface runoff

Surface runoff

Surface runoff is the water flow which occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water, from rain, snowmelt, or other sources flows over the land....
water and recharge underground aquifer

Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
s.

A diving snorkel can have a sump section located below the mouthpiece. This allows excess moisture from the breath and liquid from the ocean to settle and remain in the sump, so that it does not impair the snorkeler's breathing.

In medieval cosmology, the sump was the center of the cosmos, where the dregs and filth descended, with the celestial sphere far exalted above the world of fallen man.

The equivalent of a sump on a boat

Boat

A boat is a watercraft of modest size designed to float or plane on water, and provide transport over it. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas....
is the bilge

Bilge

The bilge is the lowest compartment on a ship where the two sides meet. The word was first coined in 1523.The word is sometimes also used to describe the water that collects in this compartment....
.

Other Uses

In a foxhole

Defensive fighting position

A defensive fighting position is one of several types of earthwork constructed in a military context.A DFP...
, a grenade sump is a deeper hole dug inside the foxhole into which live grenades can be kicked to minimize damage from the explosion.