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.