ENGINEROOMVENTILATION

Freshairisneededinanengineroomforthefueloilburninginthemainengine,theauxiliary
enginesandthesteamboilers.Inadditionconstantfreshairflowisimportanttoproduce
oxygenforthemachinerycrewonboard.Airisalsoventilatedfromtheenginepremisesfor
coolingpurposesandtomaintainsufficientlygoodairquality.Airsupplyfansarethemain
ventilatorsintheengineroom;however,alsosmallerexhaustfansareusedinvesselsfor
removalofinflammablegasesorsmoke.
Designconditionsforengineroomventilation.Theexternalambienttemperatureshallbe
35Candthemaximumtemperatureriseintheenginecasingshouldbelessthan12.5C.In
principle,theairflowneededisasumofcombustionairandairflowfortheevacuationof
heatemissionsinengineroom.However,thetotalairflowtotheengineroomshallnotbe
lessthanairflowforcombustion,engine(s)andboiler(s),plus50%.Inthecalculationsair
3
densityis1.13kg/m ,relativehumidity70%andpressure101.3kPa.
Itisrecommendedthatapproximately50%oftheairshouldbedeliveredclosetomain
engineturbocharger.Basedon ISO8861aslightpositivepressureintheengineroomis
proposed,wherebythispressureshouldnotexceed50Pa.(ISO8861,1998.)

Mainengineturbochargerandcombustionairnozzle
Temperaturetherangeshouldbefrom0to45Cinenclosedspaceswhentheatmospheric
pressureis100kPaandrelativehumidity60%.
EnginemanufacturersrecommendthatThedimensioningofblowersandextractorsshould
ensure that an overpressure of about 5 mmWC is maintained in the engine room in all
runningconditions.
Excessiveventilationconsumesenergyanditmayresultintoolowtemperaturesinsidethe
engineroom.Thereforeventilationflowisadjustableinships.Themaincriterionforthis

adjustment is the engine room temperature. In case of fire, engine room ventilation is
stopped,outletopeningsareclosedandtypicallyhighpressurecarbondioxideisreleasedinto
theengineroomtoextinguishthefire.
Exhaustgasscrubberspreventheavyfueloilsulphuroxideemissions.Onescrubbertypeis
anintegratedscrubberwherealltheexhaustgasesproducedonboardarewashedinasingle
unit.Exhaustgasfansconnectedtoscrubbercontrolthecorrectpressureintheexhaustgas
pipes.Thispressuremustbestableinallmachineryloadingcasesandespeciallysteamboiler
burnersareexpectedtobesensitivetotheexhaustgasbackpressurevariations.

Airfansandducts

Freshairisblownintothemachineryspacesofthevesselbyventilationfans.Apartofthis
airisconsumedbydieselenginesandoilfiredboilersandtherestoftheairisventilatedback
totheatmosphere.Thefreshairsuctioninletisbehindthedeckhouse(Picture2).

Picture2.Airsuctiongrills
3
Two main fans (S10 and S11) with acapacity of20.8 m /s are located below this grill
(Picture3).FanS11isreversibleandhasasecondtaskasasmokesuctionfanfromthe
engineroomafterafire.TheothermainfanS10hastwospeedswiththesamemaximum
capacity.

Picture3.Mainengineroomventilationfans
Freshairsupplytotheengineroomisdividedtoseveralbranchesonthemaindeck,the
tween deck and at floor level. The main engine and two auxiliary boilers are the most
outstandingconsumers.Inadditionairisblownintothreeseparatespaces;materialstorage,
workshopandseparatorroom.
Thedieselgeneratorroomhasaseparatetwospeedsupplyfanwithamaximumcapacityof
3
16.7m /s.Thisspacehasanairexittothemainengineroomfortheairnotconsumedby
3
auxiliaryengines(Picture4).Thetotalairinflowdesigncapacityis58.3m /h.

Picture4.Ventilationairentranceportsfromauxiliaryengineroomtomainengineroom
Fromthepointofviewofventilation,thefunnelandtheengineroomareoneandasame
space.Theairmainexitisonthebackwallofthefunnel(Picture5).Thisexitandalsothe
ductsafterthesupplyfansareclosedinafiresituation.Inwintertimepartoftheexitairis
mixedwiththesupplyairtoincreasethetemperatureofincomingair.Themixingratiocan
beselectedmanually.

Picture5.Ventilationairmainexit
Bilge gases and also ventilation air near the sewage treatment unit are exhausted to the
atmospherebyaseparateexhaustfan(Picture6).Anotherexhaustfanislocatedinsidethe
separatorroomtoprotectothermachineryspacesfromflammableoilygases(Picture7).
Thereisnoxiousairalsointheshipsworkshop.Forexampleweldingisatypicalsmoke
sourceandduringaweldingprocessdirtyairisremovedfromtheworkshopbytwoduct
fans.

Picture6.Bilgeairsuction

Picture7.Separatorroomairexitgrill
Alldoorsandhatchestotheengineroommustbeclosedatseaandalsoinharbour.In
additiontothemaindoorandtheenginecasingdoorthereareseveralemergencyexitsand
alsoahatchonthefunneltop.Thedoorsfromengineroomtoworkshop,dieselgenerator
roomandseparatorroomcanbeeitheropenorclosed(Picture8).

Picture8.Mainengineroomexit

Airconsumers
The main engine of the vessel has eight cylinders in line, type Wrtsil 8L46C with a
continuousoutputof8400kWat500RPM.Thecombustionairrequirementatfullpoweris
14.3kg/sandthecorrespondingheatradiationfromengineis320kW.
Alsotheauxiliaryengines,locatedintheirownengineroom,aremanufacturedbyWrtsil.
Twooftheseconstantspeedenginesareoftype6L20(1020kW)andoneisa4L20(680
kW),allrunningat900RPM.Thefullpowercombustionairconsumptioninsixcylinder
enginesis2.1kg/sandinfourcylinderengines1.25kg/s(Wrtsil,2002).
AthirdtypeofairconsumersarethetwooilfiredboilersoftypeAalborgUNEXCHB10000
witharatedevaporationof10000kg/hsaturatedsteam.Theseboilershaveaservicepressure
of800kPa.Thecombustionairconsumptionis3.17kg/s(maximum)andburningairis
blownintotheboilersbyseparateairfans(Picture10).Atlowsteamconsumption,theburner
stopsandstartsautomatically.Theburnerhasamodulatingactionwithastoppinglimitof
3040%offullsteamproduction.Undernormalconditions,onlyoneboilerisonandthe
otheroneisonstandby.
The maximum theoretical combustion air consumption is 26.1 kg/s. When the vessel is
operatinginpractice,allenginesandboilersareneverusedatthehighestpossibleloadatthe
sametime.AlltheengineroomairproducersandconsumersarelistedinTable4.

Picture 10. Steam boiler burning air fan

MEASUREMENTS
Machineryloadingcases
InprinciplefivedifferentkindsofoperationalmodesasshowninTable1:
Harbourloading
Manoeuvring
Pilotonboard
Servicespeed
Harbourunloading
Engineroompressureinallthecases,exceptthefirstone,wasmeasuredduringthetests.In
additionasixthmodeofusewassteaminginice.Themaximumthrustwasnotstrongenough
tobreakthepackiceandthereforeshiphadtobackupandrushagaintowardstheice.When
navigatinginheavyicetheauxiliaryengineswererunning.Allthepoweravailablefromthe
mainenginewasintheserviceofadvance.

Table1.Typicaluseofenginesandboilersonboard
Machine
Loading
Manoeuvring Piloton
type
board
Main
Stopped
Running
Running
engine(1
pc)
Generators Onerun
Threerunning Stopped
(3pcs)
ning
(shaftgen
eratorrun
ning)
Steamboil Onerun
Onerunning,
Stopped
ers(2pcs)
ning,in
intermittent
termittent use
use

Service Unloading
speed
Running Stopped
Stopped

Two
running

Stopped

One
running,
intermittent
use

Measurement arrangements
The main goal of the engine room pressure measurements was to
determine the difference in air pressure between the engine room and
outside. It was important to determine the prevailing conditions at the
measurement points. The measured values were:
Pressure difference between the engine room and the outdoor air
Air temperature in the engine room
Air relative humidity in the engine room
Outdoor air temperature
Outdoor air relative humidity
Outdoor air barometric pressure
These measurements were carried out by means of a computerized data
acquisition system. This system contains three main parts, namely a
laptop computer, data acquisition devices, and sensors. The data
acquisition system contained devices and sensors which are listed below:
Ethernetconnectionmodule,AnalogInputmodule;DifferencePressureTransmitter

Barometer;Relativehumidityandtemperaturetransmitter

Measuringprogresstable
ThemeasureddatawasrecordedperiodicallyasshowninTable4.Theweatherstationwasa
separate permanent installation onboard and it was not connected to the data recording
system.
Table4.Engineroompressuretestphases
Mode
Service
Ice
Manoeuvring Harbour
Pilot
Ballast
speed
conditions
onboard
condition
Date
20100313 20100314 20100314 20100315
20100315 20100315
Time
18.0018.20 18.40
19.3519.55 8.309.10
10.2010.45 11.0511.25
19.25
Fans
Engineroomfan
off
low
low
low
low
S10,75000m3/h
Engineroomfan
supply
supply
off/supply
supply
supply
S11,75000m3/h
AEroomfanS13, off
low
low
low
low
60000m3/h
Separ.roomexh.
on
on
on
on
on
fan,7000m3/h
ERbilgeexh.fan, on
on
on
on
on
3500m3/h
Boiler1fan,9750 off
off
off
off
off
m3/h
Boiler2fan,9750 off
off
on/off
off
off
m3/h
Engines
Shipspeed(knots) 13,2
5,314,3
02,8
0
7,114,9
15,1
Mainenginefuel
71
7583
3349
off
3992
rack(%)
Auxiliaryengine1 off
off
on
off
on/off
off
Auxiliaryengine2 off
on
on
on
on
on
Auxiliaryengine3 off
on/off
on
on
on
on
Doors
Maindoor
closed
closed
open/closed
closed
closed
Separatorroom
open/closed open
open
open
open
door
Enginecasingdoor closed
open/closed
closed
closed
closed
Enginecasingtop open/closed closed
closed
closed
closed
exithatch
Eng.casing
open
open
open
open
open
ventilationoutlet
AEroomdoor
open/closed open
open/closed
open
open
General
Barometric
994,7995,4 997,8
998,6999,1 1001,1
997,8998,5 1001,2

pressure(mbar)
Windspeed,true
(m/s)
Windspeed,
apparent(m/s)
Winddirection,
true(degr)
Winddirection,
apparent(degr)
Airtemperature,
outside(C)
Airtemperature,on
funneltop(C)
Airtemperature,in
engineroom(C)
Airhumidity,on
funneltop(%)
Airhumidity,in
engineroom(%)
Engineroom
overpress(Pa)

998,7

1001,2

27

38

southwest

274

315327

318

11(sbbow)

193sb

51sb11bb

11bb

4,010,6

0,72,6

4,5(3,2)

0,73,5

22,4

19,820,1

2020,6

17,618,1

17,518,4

18,3

71,8

41,567,4

65,883,4

81,286,7

6467,3

56,7

16,7

12,413,5

14,817,7

1313,6

15,317,3

16,4

2536

2165

1268

1447

850

2024

Results
The measured pressure difference curves between the sensors on funnel
top and in engine room are shown in Figures 16. The black line is the
average value of 25 measurements recorded at 0.5 second intervals. By
looking at Figure 1 we can see that at open sea the pressure level in the
engine room was quite stable, approximately 30 Pa.

Figure1.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroomatservicespeed
Whentheshipwassteaminginiceconditions,twoengineroomfanswereonandtherewas
substantialpressurevariation(Figure2).Enginepowerwashighandatleastoncethestopped
inheavyice.Shehadtoreverseandramagaintowardstheiceridge.

Figure2.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroomwhennavigatingthe
shipiniceconditions
Whenshipwasmanoeuvring,pressurevariationwasintense.Thiswasobviouslyduetothe
speedandenginepowervariations(Figure3).

Figure3.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroomwhenmanoeuvring
theship
Inharbourthepressurelevelwaslow,about20Pa.AfterstartingengineroomfanS11,the
pressurelevelroserapidly.Ontheotherhandthestartingofthesteamboiler(steamboiler
fan)reducedthepressurelevelasshowninFigure4(notesofstartstoptimesdonotquite
tallywiththecurve).Aclearreductioninpressurelevelwasobservedafterswitchingoffthe
fanS11.
At low speed with the pilot onboard, the pressure was low, i.e. less than 10 Pa.
Simultaneouslythemainenginewasworkingathighload.Achangeinengineloadincreased
thepressureto50Pa(Figure5).Themainenginefuelrackadjustmentvariedfrom39to92
%.Alsothewindspeedanddirectionalternated.
Atopenseainballastconditionthepressureintheengineroomwasstable,about22Pa
(Figure6).

Figure4.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroominharbour

Figure5.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroomatslowspeed

Figure6.Pressuredifferencebetweenthefunneltopandengineroomatservicespeedin
ballastcondition

PRESSUREANALYSES
Theeffectsofshipspeedandenginepower
Ingeneralthepressureintheengineroomwasverystableatopenseawhentheshipspeed
andmainenginepoweroftheshipweresteady.Iniceconditionspressurevariationwasmore
significant under constant change in speed and power. Onboard the ship the greatest
measuredpressurevariationwas40Pa.Inharborthestartingofthemainenginereducedthe
pressurebyapproximately3Pa.
Theauxiliaryenginesarelocatedinaseparatespacewiththeirownventilationfan.Onthe
exitsideoftheauxiliaryengineroomthereisanopenconnectiontothemainengineroom.
Thestartingandstoppingoftheauxiliaryengineshadminoreffectonengineroompressure.

Theeffectsofwind
Thereisnotenoughreliabletestdataavailabletodrawanyconclusionsabouttheeffectsof
wind.Oneprobleminthedatarecordingprocesswastheseparateweatherstationwhichwas
notconnectedtothemaindataacquisitioncomputer.Especiallygustywindreadingswere
difficulttosynchronizemanuallywiththecomputerizeddatarecording.Apparentwindspeed
influenceonengineroompressureisdifficulttoestimate.Ifvesselspeedisraised,alsothe
powerofthemainengineincreases.Thishigherengineloadisinconnectionwiththeair
consumptioninsidetheengineroomandtheeffectofwindspeedonengineroompressure
remainsunclear.

Theeffectsofairfansandsteamboiler
Theengineroommainfanshadaninfluenceonairpressure.Thestartingoffans11increased
thepressurebyapproximately25Pa.Ontheotherhandthefanofthesteamboileroilburner

consumesairandpressuredropsintheengineroomwereabout12Pawiththestartingofthis
fan.Thesteamboilerisstartedautomaticallyandthestartingloadisobviouslylow.

Theeffectsofdoorsandhatches

Theopeningandclosingofdoorsandhatcheshadnomeasurableinfluenceonengineroom
pressure.Ventilationairrecirculationwasnotshutoffduringthetestsbutwouldprobably
resultinsomereductioninpressure.Ifthemainfunnelexitandtherecirculationhadbeen
closed, the highest possible pressure could have been measured. However, this mode of
engineroomventilationisnormallyneverinuse.Theenginecasingmainventilationairexit
isalwaysopenanditwillbeclosedonlyincaseoffireintheengineroom.

5 CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS

Themeasuredengineroomoverpressurecomparedtothebarometricpressureatfunneltop
variedbetween6Paand68Pa.TheISO8861standard(1998)mandatesthatoverpressure
shouldnotexceed50Pa.Mostofthemeasurementsonboardwerebelowthislimit.Onthe
otherhandthemainenginemanufacturerrecommendsanoverpressureofabout50Paand
comparedtothis,themeasuredreadingswereratherlow.Thusthetwospecificationsof
engineroompressurelevelaresomewhatinconsistent.
The air temperature inside the engine room was within the limits set by classification
3
societies. The maximum theoretical air inflow (65.9 m /h) fulfilled the 50 % extra air
requirementofthestandard.Duringtheteststherewasnoneedforsuchhighventilation
flow.Thishighairflowhadcooledtheengineroomexcessively;thetemperatureoutsidethe
shipwasquitelow.Doorsandhatcheshadpracticallynoeffectonthepressureintheengine
room.
Theboileroperationalreliabilityisirrespectiveofpressurefluctuationintheengineroom.
The largest fluctuation was low, 60 Pa (~6 mm H 2O) which according to the burner
manufactureropinionshouldnotdisturbburneroperation.However,thepressurelevelinthe
engine room should always stay positive to ensure boiler operational reliability. Ice
conditionsandmaneuveringarethemostproblematicsituationsfortheshipiftheengine
roompressurevariationisthecriterion.
Infuturethefollowingmeasuresshouldbeconsidered:
Developingtheengineroomventilationcontrolonthebasisofbothtemperatureand
pressure(iflesspressurefluctuationisneeded)

Appendix2Pressuremeasurementarrangementsonboard