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    Crank Case Explosion PDF

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    Joher
    An oil mist detector alarm went off on a ship's main engine, indicating a problem with cylinders 10 and 11. The Chief Engineer initially thought it was a faulty detector but the mist levels kept rising. He reduced the engine speed but 5 minutes later an explosion occurred, severely burning an engineer. The cause was determined to be a failed bearing on cylinder 13 that overheated and exploded. Pieces of the bearing material had been found in filters previously but were dismissed. The explosion underscores the importance of heeding oil mist detectors and evacuating personnel when alarms activate.

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    Crank Case Explosion PDF

    Uploaded by

    Joher
    207 views1 page
    An oil mist detector alarm went off on a ship's main engine, indicating a problem with cylinders 10 and 11. The Chief Engineer initially thought it was a faulty detector but the mist levels kept rising. He reduced the engine speed but 5 minutes later an explosion occurred, severely burning an engineer. The cause was determined to be a failed bearing on cylinder 13 that overheated and exploded. Pieces of the bearing material had been found in filters previously but were dismissed. The explosion underscores the importance of heeding oil mist detectors and evacuating personnel when alarms activate.

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    An oil mist detector alarm went off on a ship's main engine, indicating a problem with cylinders 10 and 11. The Chief Engineer initially thought it was a faulty detector but the mist levels kept rising. He reduced the engine speed but 5 minutes later an explosion occurred, severely burning an engineer. The cause was determined to be a failed bearing on cylinder 13 that overheated and exploded. Pieces of the bearing material had been found in filters previously but were dismissed. The explosion underscores the importance of heeding oil mist detectors and evacuating personnel when alarms activate.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    207 views1 page

    Crank Case Explosion PDF

    Uploaded by

    Joher
    An oil mist detector alarm went off on a ship's main engine, indicating a problem with cylinders 10 and 11. The Chief Engineer initially thought it was a faulty detector but the mist levels kept rising. He reduced the engine speed but 5 minutes later an explosion occurred, severely burning an engineer. The cause was determined to be a failed bearing on cylinder 13 that overheated and exploded. Pieces of the bearing material had been found in filters previously but were dismissed. The explosion underscores the importance of heeding oil mist detectors and evacuating personnel when alarms activate.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    A Recent Crankcase Explosion

    Page 1 of 1

    marinediesels.co.uk
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    A Recent Crankcase Explosion
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    The story starts when the oil mist detector alarm for No 10 unit (a QMI type) on a 12 cylinder 2 stroke engine went off
    when the Chief Engineer was in the engine control room together with two of his staff.
    The Chief Engineer thought that the alarm was due to a dirty detector head of the Oil Mist Detector and immediately sent
    one of the engineers down in the engine room to check the detector heads.
    The Chief Engineer noticed that the oil mist level was increasing in crankthrow spaces 10 and 11, so he called the bridge
    and asked the bridge watchkeeper to reduce the revolutions of the engine.
    5 minutes later he noticed that the oil mist level had increased further. It was at this point that he cancelled the load
    reduction programme and reduced the main engine revolutions to 75 rpm. At almost the same time a heavy explosion
    occurred in the engine room.
    The engineer sent to clean the detector heads was standing close to a relief valve and was severely burnt.
    A fire started in the engine room and purifier room caused by the shockwave from the explosion bursting an oil pipe. The
    fire was eventually extinguished by injecting CO2. (after blocking off access doors that had been damaged in the
    explosion).
    The Cause of the explosion was an over heated main bearing (no 13). Pieces of white metal were found in the crankcase
    and subsequent investigations established that some of the white metal had detached due to fatigue and poor bonding. As
    the metal detached, the load on the existing white metal increased, due to the now reduced area to support the crankshaft
    journal leading to breakdown in the lub.oil film and wiping of the bearing. The crankshaft journal was now running on the
    bare steel backing.
    When the explosion occurred, 4 doors on the "safe side" (the side without the explosion doors) blew off, starting the fire.
    The vessel had to be towed to port for repairs which took 9 weeks.
    The crankshaft journal was badly scored with extensive heat cracks. It was reduced in diameter and undersize bearings
    fitted.
    It came to light in subsequent investigations that fragments of white metal had been found in the LO filters 2 weeks
    before the explosion. It was assumed that this was white metal from the guide shoes and no further action was taken.

    It is easy to be wise after the event. However the oil mist detector is designed to protect, and a sophisticated set up like the
    QMI, which works on the light scatter principle, should be believed when it indicates a high oil mist. The first mistake
    was sending someone down to "clean the lenses". A crankcase explosion is a very serious occurrence. The engine room
    should be evacuated of all personnel not dealing with the situation from the control room.
    A seemingly simple solution is "as soon as the alarm sounds, the engine should be stopped" But if this is the case why
    isn't the oil mist detector linked to the engine shut downs. On some ships it has been, but consider this: The ship may be
    manoeuvering in a risky situation, or there may be a shaft alternator in use.
    The general procedure should be this. On a bridge control set up with the engine room in UMS mode, if alarm conditions
    are reached, the auxiliary generators should run up, load transferred, and the shaft alternator isolated. After a 10 second
    delay the engine should immediately power down to 50% full load, bypassing the load control programme. This reduction
    in load will reduce the likelihood of a crankcase explosion. The delay is to give the navigating officer time to override the
    slow down incase safety of the ship is at risk. Once the engine has slowed down it should be stopped as soon as it is safe
    to do so.
    If the engine room is manned, and on bridge control, the watchkeeping engineer may choose to take control of the engine,
    reduce the load and stop as soon as it is safe to do so. Once the engine has stopped, the cooling and LO must be kept
    running, the turning gear should be engaged and the engine turned continuously. The engine room should be evacuated
    and time given (30 minutes) for the engine to cool down before opening up the crankcase for inspection.
    Purifiers are fitted in separate rooms for a reason: Fire risk. The doors should be closed and dogged shut when not passing
    through them.
    What about the white metal found in the filters? If, instead of making assumptions, the crankcase had been opened up
    they may have found the white metal in the vicinity of the damaged bearing.
    The fact that the oil mist detector alarmed for a unit not adjacent to the overheated bearing should be noted. The oil mist
    can circulate within the crankcase. This should be borne in mind when investigating the cause of a oil mist alarm.

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    5/19/2014

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