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Skuld warns on hidden engine room hot spots

By Insurance Marine News, 4th September 2018 | Print version

Skuld has warned its Members about the continued dangers of fires starting from the machinery space; specifically, where the cause of the fire is the result of a flammable liquid spraying onto a hot surface.

Skuld said that typical root causes for such incidents had been identified as:

  • Missing pipe brackets/supports on oil systems leading to increased vibrations and subsequent cracks or even breakage of the oil piping system.
  • Missing cup over the fuel injector valve.
  • Original insulation or screening of hot surfaces was not maintained correctly.
  • Original insulation or screening of hot surfaces was not sufficient for preventing oil spray onto hot surfaces.
  • Insulation soaked with oil caught fire when sufficiently heated up.
  • Oil leakages from engine components like exhaust valve indicators spraying onto the exhaust manifold.

Skuld recommended that a proactive inspection and evaluation programme be incorporated as part of the planned maintenance schedule to ensure that all piping systems and equipment were maintained corrected and that design was appropriate. The insurer added that the use of a thermal imaging camera could have great benefits of identifying any areas where a hot spot might be developing or had not been identified before.

Routines for such screenings should include but not be limited to:

  • Mechanical inspection and maintenance of all the internal oil piping on machinery including external oil piping near to all equipment that can  potentially leak onto hot surfaces.
  • Inspection and maintenance of all the original screening arrangements and insulation installed on equipment.
  • Inspection and maintenance of screening and insulation of external oil piping near to the machinery that can potentially leak onto hot surfaces.
  • Inspection and evaluation of actual piping design and screening/insulation design.

Skuld said that a screening template could be made for all equipment in the engine room identified as part of this process, and these completed templates would help record the lifecycle of the screening/insulation and give early indication of deterioration or damage in order to determine when replacement would be needed to maintain the original standard. More information is available here

This article was kindly supplied by Insurance Marine News

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