Engine room fire safety

Abstract

The paper characterizes an engine room as a place of a fire’s origin and its spread. It presents potential sources
of fire and fire protection onboard. Examples of international rules and regulations are described as well. It also
gives the statistics and some scenarios for fires and some recommendations for machine spaces. It presents
problems of engine room fire safety, understood as a result of the analysis of different criteria. The engine room
was chosen for analysis because many factors whose presence result in a fire could be found there in the way
of combustible materials: fuel oil, lubrication oil, hydraulic oil and thermal oil consumed by the main engine,
generator engine, boiler, thermal oil heater and hydraulic oil equipment, paints, solvents etc. Sources of potential
fires are mainly the hot surfaces of exhaust gas pipes, turbochargers, boilers and waste oil incinerators,
ignitions, sparks, static electricity etc. In addition, many engine room fires have an electrical source, such as
electrical short-circuits and thermal overheating in the switchboards. Approximately 70% of fires in the engine
room have typical scenarios: the outflow of combustible liquid and contact with a hot surface and can reach
temperatures between 700–1000°C. They spread rapidly, their power and dynamism depending on the intensity
of the outflow of the combustible liquid and its properties, but also the local conditions and the geometry of
engine room as well.
Fire safety in engine rooms is determined both by good design and the company’s and crew’s focus on fire
prevention. Some of the recommendations are high standards of cleanliness in the engine room, regular checks
of materials used for insulating high temperature surfaces, attention to fire risks when repairs and maintenance
works are carried out and many other factors.

Full text

Scienc Journals Zeszyty Naukowe
of the Marime University of Szczecin Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie
Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie 47 (119) 29
2016, 47 (119), 29–35
ISSN 1733-8670 (Printed) Received: 29.04.2016
ISSN 2392-0378 (Online) Accepted: 08.08.2016
DOI: 10.17402/145 Published: 20.09.2016
Engine room re safety
Agata Krystosik-Gromadzińska
West Pomeranian University of Technology, Faculty of Maritime Technology and Transport
Department of Safety and Engineering
41 Piastów Ave., 71-065 Szczecin, Poland, e-mail: agata.krystosik@zut.edu.pl
Key words:
Abstract






      -

    

      

      

       



Introduction
      
       -
       -

      
  


  

      


       
     




       
   -
    
     

         

  -
        
  


Agata Krystosik-Gromadzińska
30 Scienc Journals of the Marime University of Szczecin 47 (119)
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
  

-
       
      


      
 

         
-
       
-
-


-

      
   
  -

-

 

    
     

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




Flammable materials and sources
of ignition in engine rooms


  -
        
       -
       -
      


-

        -


-

      

   
      


        
      

       


-
        



       
    




  

Oil
leakage
-hot
surface;
56%
Compo-
nent
failure;
14%
Boiler
incidents;
14%
Electrical;
9%
Hot work;
7%
Figure 1. Engine room re (DASPOS, 2016)
Figure 2. Causes of re (based on: DNV, 2000)

Engine room re safety
Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie 47 (119) 31
      



    

     
   


        
       

       -
       
  
    

      

    






-

        

-
       -
       
 
    
-
        
        
       









 

 



 










 





 


















Figure 3. The sources of re in engine room (NKK, 1994)

Agata Krystosik-Gromadzińska
32 Scienc Journals of the Marime University of Szczecin 47 (119)
     



-
  
   -
  


      
        
      

         
  -

       -

       
-
     

     
    

Fire protection methods

       
      
   
         
     
       
        
    

      

       

      
-


       

     -


   


     



      -
    

-

      

     -
        


     

     -
       

  


      -

  -
    
      



     
       

       
-

-
       
   

    
          

    
        
         
-

      


Engine room re safety
Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie 47 (119) 33

       


    
  
     
     

-
       
       

-
-
       

     

Typical scenarios- examples

       

First Scenario
   
  
    

-
       -
       



     
    -


          

Second Scenario
-
      
 

-
     

  
       

  -

      


Some recommendations for engine room
re safety

     -
  
      
-




        -
      
       


-

     

    

     -
    


      

 
       
        
-


        
     



  -
    -
       

Agata Krystosik-Gromadzińska
34 Scienc Journals of the Marime University of Szczecin 47 (119)




Conclusions


      

   -
   -
  
        

    
     
-



  


      
-



         
-
    
     


References
 
  Jour-
nal of Kones
     

     


     





-

      -

    -
    Sci-
entic Journals Maritime University of Szczecin  

  Training Pakage TDM01-

 -

Fire safety of engine room
Good design, materials and
technology of production
Company, crew and
servicemen fire prevention
Authorities and classification
societies controls
Measures on board
Procedures to ensure the compliance with the provisions of the
relevant rules and regulations
Crew properly trained
Crew equipped with adequate resources/tools to perform task in
accordance with the required standards
High standards of cleanness in engine room
Any leakages in fuel, hydraulic, or other
flammable oil systems must be dealt with
promptly
Regular checks the position and condition
of spray shields for both high and low
pressure flammable oil lines and
the drainage arrangements for jacketed
fuel oil pipes
Regular checks of materials used for insulating high temperature
surfaces (visually and using temperature measuring tools)
Attention to fire risks when repairs and
maintenance are carried out.
Creation by training and experience transfer between crew
a common understanding of all hazards present in an engine
room and their potential consequences
Figure 4. Fire safety in the engine room – some recommendations (based on: Gard, 2016)

Engine room re safety
Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Szczecinie 47 (119) 35
     -


     
-
-
  


-

        
   Archivum Combustionis  

  Engine room re-

       
  -

      



      
  


  -

   -


