Engineering:Engine room
On a ship, the engine room (ER)[1] is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. The engine room is generally the largest physical compartment of the machinery space. It houses the vessel's prime mover, usually some variations of a heat engine (steam engine, diesel engine, gas or steam turbine). On some ships, there may be more than one engine room, such as forward and aft, or port or starboard engine rooms, or may be simply numbered. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into various spaces.
The engine room is usually located near the bottom, at the rear or aft end of the vessel, and comprises few compartments. This design maximizes the cargo carrying capacity of the vessel and situates the prime mover close to the propeller, minimizing equipment cost and problems posed from long shaft lines. On some ships, the engine room may be situated mid-ship, such as on vessels built from 1900 to the 1960s, or forward and even high, such as on diesel-electric vessels.
Equipment
Engines
Engine cooling
Thrusters
Thrusters, like main propellers, are reversible by hydraulic operation. Small embedded hydraulic motors rotate the blades up to 180 degrees to reverse the direction of the thrust. A variant on this is the azipod, which are propellers mounted in a swiveling pod that can rotate to direct thrust in any direction, making fine steering easier, and allowing a ship to move sideways up to a dock, when used in conjunction with a bow thruster.
Engine Control Room
Modern merchant vessels have a special space inside the Engine Room called Engine Control Room (ECR). This is the place where all machinery could be remotely observed and controlled. There are situated also most of or at least main electricity breakers. ECR is connected with the Bridge through compulsory engine-room telegraph which provides visual indication of the orders and responses.[2] Other means of communication are phone and emergency phone lines as well as LAN cables or fiber-optic cables depending on distance.
Human presence is not required to be round the clock in the ER due to high level of automation and computerization. Unattended machinery spaces are common practice nowadays.
Safety
Fire precautions
Ventilation
History
See also
- Engine department
- Marine propulsion
- Marine fuel management
- Mechanical room
- Electrical room
- Fire room
References
- ↑ Wise Geek: What is the Engine Department on a US Merchant Ship?
- ↑ IMO (2014). "Chapter II-1". SOLAS Consolidated Edition 2014 (6th ed.). Marine Press. pp. 98. ISBN 978-92-801-1594-9.
External links
 |  |
