Experimental Research and Numerical Analysis of Marine Oil Leakage and Accidental Ignition in Fishing Vessels

Abstract

The hazard of highly combustible marine oil leakage greatly increases fishing vessel operation risks. This research integrates an experiment to explore the coupling mechanism of a typical heated surface of an engine room as a source to ignite marine oil. A numerical model is established that depicts the dynamic process of and variations in the combined effects regarding multiple factors of oil ignition under actual experiment. The leaked marine oil is ignited with a heated surface, relevant models are applied to reproduce the results, and the influences of specific parameters of a fishing vessel’s engine room are analyzed. The results indicate that the leaked oil boils violently on the heated surface, and a vapor film forms on the oil surface. Increased heated-surface temperatures lead to a significant difference in the initial ignition occurrences of marine oil, and the distance between the ignition height and oil is closely related to the engine room environment. The ignition probability of marine oil shows a gradually increasing trend with elevated heated-surface temperatures. The ignition height presents a downward trend with the increase in the heated-surface temperature, while the engine room’s humidity in air inhibits the upward transfer of heat; however, the degree of inhibition is limited accordingly. The results evidence that this comparative work can be an effective approach to reveal the impacts of marine oil, heat source, ventilation velocity, and humidity on initial ignition characteristics. Additionally, this work provides a basis for setting up emergency planning with appropriate monitoring equipment and further preventing vessel fires due to oil–thermal ignition.

Influence of Edge-Limited Hot Surfaces on Accidental Ignition and Combustion in Ship Engine Rooms: A Case Study of Marine Diesel Leakage

“…Gas-liquid equilibrium is assumed to be maintained at the surface of the fuel droplet, with the vapor maintaining a saturated pressure with temperature [34,35]. Based on this assumption, total heat transmission is consumed in the fuel evaporation process, and the relevant energy equation can be presented as Equation (1).…”

“…Leaking marine fuel that comes into contact with hot surfaces caused by nearby machinery operating under high load can trigger hot surface ignition (HSI) [1][2][3]. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent in machinery with hot surfaces that have edge structures such as ridges, with adjacent machinery often being the initial source of the leakage.…”

Oil and Gas Structures: Forecasting the Fire Resistance of Steel Structures with Fire Protection under Hydrocarbon Fire Conditions

“…However, in most cases, it is hydrocarbons that burn at oil and gas facilities, so, to justify the fire resistance of structures and equipment, it is recommended to provide the hydrocarbon temperaturetime curve (hereinafter referred to as "H-curve") regulated by European EN 1363 [6] and American UL 1709 [7]. Modern software complexes that implement the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model also simulate the "real" or "parametric" fire curves determined on the basis of the combustible load and specific conditions on the object [8][9][10][11].…”