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Proceedings of MARTEC 2022
The International Conference on Marine Technology
21-22 December 2022, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF ENGINE ROOM

VENTILATION OF A BULK CARRIER PLYING IN THE INLAND WATERWAYS
OF BANGLADESH

Md. Rafsan Zani1, Md. Tariqul Hossain1, Mostafizur Rahman1, Md. Mashiur Rahaman1, N.M.
Golam Zakaria1
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In this study, the factors contributing to proper engine room ventilation on an inland bulk carrier ship
were investigated. High temperatures in the engine room can cause severe damage to the engine,
machinery, and electrical equipment. Hence ISO 8861:1998 specifies the requirements for a safe and
efficient engine room. The inlet duct diameter and airfow rate (air changes per hour) are the most
crucial factors in engine room ventilation. Numerical analysis was carried out using the Star CCM+
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The optimal airfow rate is determined while keeping
the inlet velocity low to minimize the airfow machinery's (blowers) excessive noise and power
consumption. Local temperature rise, which might occur due to inadequate airfow throughout the
engine room, is also observed. The correlations between mean temperature, inlet diameter, and airfow
rate were also investigated in this study; while keeping the airfow constant. Increasing the inlet
diameter raises the mean temperature inside the engine room while reducing the air velocity,
demonstrating that increased airfow improves the cooling of the entire engine room, however, at the
expense of higher velocity, more noise, and heavier equipment.
Keywords: Engine room, ventilation, duct, CFD.
gathering. They concentrated on inlets and outlets for
1. INTRODUCTION air movement and, as a result, convection in the room
to improve the efficiency of the motors and
generators. The ventilation study in a ship engine
The engine room ventilation generally means
room by Hyeok Lee et al. [2] estimated the engine
adequate airflow to provide enough air for the
room airflow and use the results as a reference for
combustion process and the cooling of the engine and
positioning the smoke sensors using a CFD
other machinery. The main heat-producing elements simulation. E. Alizadeh et al. [3] used a CFD
inside the engine room are: the main propulsion approach to analyze the temperature distribution
engine, generators and boilers. Heat is created with inside the ship's main engine room. To reduce the
the combustion process of the engine and then the mean temperature and minimize heat concentrations
heat is conducted through the wall of the machine. As in various parts of the engine room, the Inlet
the wall of the engine is being heated with the arrangement and area have been studied under several
convection process, the air inside the engine room is scenarios. Jianping Chena et al.[4] discovered the
heated as well. And if the heat is not transferred ideal ventilation scheme, which serves as the
outside the engine room, the engine room will face foundation for ventilation design. I. Serbanescu et al.
excessive temperature that may affect the [5] worked on air circulation in the engine
performance and lifetime of the components inside compartment to ensure high-quality breathing air for
the engine room. There are air receivers and blowers crew members as well as sufficient air for thermal
installed inside the engine room, which work as the process development machines and power plants on
inlets and outlets for the air of the engine room. ships in all machinery spaces. Due to the nature of the
There have been a few kinds of research on the use flow found by Shih et al. [6], the realizable k-ε model
of CFD in the ventilation of marine engine rooms. was deemed most appropriate by Zhang et al [7, 8]. A
Will Newton et al. [1] used computational tools and study into the other turbulence models within
measuring approaches to analyze the heat profile of a FLUENT confirmed the RKE model was the most
marine ship's engine room utilizing in-field data suitable. Horng et al. [9] describes a ventilation

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system design method that uses dynamic 3D models Figure 1. According to Caterpillar, the type 1
to merge the major plan and operational plan design arrangement has a routing factor of 1, which provides
phases, reducing the number of design man-hours the best airflow around the whole engine room as well
required. as the best cooling efficiency.
Present study inquired into the inlet blower
diameter and the airflow rate using CFD technique to
find the optimal parameters to achieve the best
temperature inside the engine room of a coastal cargo
vessel plying in the inland waters of Bangladesh.

2. CASE DESCRIPTION

2.1 ISO Requirements

ISO 8861:1998[10] provides requirements for the Figure 1: Ventilation arrangement Type 1
proper ventilation of an engine room of a ship.
According to ISO 8861:1998 indicated by the 3. CFD ANALYSIS
classification society the calculation method from
engine room airflow, as well as estimation of the Numerical simulations were conducted to
engine, is provided. In the standard requirement, it is investigate the optimum air flow rate and the inlet
stated that the total airflow for the engine room diameter into the engine room of a coastal cargo
ventilation shall be at least the sum of the combustion vessel. The simuations wre carried out using CFD
air for the engine room machinery and the airflow to technique STAR CCM+ software.
remove the heat radiated by the machinery inside the
room. It is also stated that the airflow shall not be less 3.1 Mathematical Formulation
than 150% of the total combustion air. The most complete model of the flow of any fluids
The environmental design conditions for the is based on the Navier-Stokes equation. The equations
calculation according to the ISO requirements for the for conservation of mass, momentum and energy for
engine room are: any fluid flow problem is given in Eq. 1, 2 and 3
 Outside ambient temperature: 35°C respectively.
 The maximum difference in temperature 𝜕𝜌
⃗)=0
+ ∇. (𝜌𝑉 (1)
between supply and exhaust air: 12.5°C 𝜕𝑡

 Air density (considered for +35°C, 70% RH 𝜌(

⃗
𝜕𝑉
⃗ . ∇𝑉
+𝑉 ⃗ ) = ∇P + μ∇2 𝑉
⃗ +𝑆 (2)
𝜕𝑡
and 101.3kPa): 1.13kg/m³
 Specific heat capacity of air: 1.01kJ/(kg K) 𝜌
𝜕𝑇
⃗ . (𝑇𝑉
+ 𝜌∇
𝐾
⃗ ) = ∇. ( ∇𝑇) + 𝑆𝑇 (3)
𝜕𝑡 𝐶𝑝

2.2 Engine Room Arrangements

3.2 Turbulence Model
According to Caterpillar guidance[11] for engine Simulations were carried out using the Standard k-ε
room ventilation arrangements, which is model. The model utilizes the fluctuating components
recommended to be used based on a different engine of the turbulent velocity in the three co-ordinate
room design, there are 4 different types of directions to obtain turbulent kinetic energy. The
arrangements. Type 2 arrangement is quite similar to Standard k-ε model is used for modeling turbulent
type 1 with just there’s a difference of air blowing flow to show path lines, velocity and temperature
from below the engine room floor. In the type 3 fields. The Standard k-ε model is based on the model
arrangement, the supply duct provides air at an angle transport equation for the kinetic energy (k) and its
directly onto the heat-emitting source. Finally, in the dissipation (e). The transport equations for the
type 4 arrangement, supply air is supplied directly
Standard k-ε model are given in Eq. 4, 5 and 6.
onto the heat-emitting source from above. The main
difference between all these types is the way air is 𝜕(𝜌𝑘) 𝜕(𝜌𝑢𝑘) 𝜕 𝜇𝑡 𝜕𝑘
supplied inside the engine room through the inlet + = [𝜇 + ] + 𝜇𝑡 𝐺 − 𝜌𝜀 + 𝑆𝑘,𝑃
𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝑃𝑟𝑘 𝜕𝑥
duct. Among them, the Type 1 arrangement is (4)
recommended and should be used unless not
compatible with the engine room itself due to its 𝜕(𝜌𝜀)
+
𝜕(𝜌𝑢𝜀)
=
𝜕
[𝜇 +
𝜇𝑇 𝜕𝜀
]
𝜀
+ [𝐶1 𝜇 𝑇 𝐺 − 𝐶2 𝜌𝜀] + 𝑆𝜀,𝑃
better efficiency in heat dissipation. In type 1 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝑃𝑟𝜀 𝜕𝑥 𝑘
(5)
arrangement supply duct for air routed at floor level
between the engines and the exhaust ducts located at Where, C1 & C2 = Empirical model constants
the topmost part of the engine room, as indicated in Pr = Prandtl numbers for kinetic energy
S = User-defined source term

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The whole domain has 2 inlets in front of every

𝐺=(
𝜕𝑢𝑖
+
𝜕𝑢𝑗 𝜕𝑢𝑖
) −
1 𝜕𝜌 𝜕𝜌 2 𝜌𝑘
− ( +
𝜕𝑢𝑖 𝜕𝑢𝐽
) engine and 1 inlet in front of each generator, in total 6
𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑖 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜌2 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝐽 3 𝜇𝑇 𝜕𝑥𝐽 𝜕𝑥𝑗 inlets. All inlets have a diameter of 0.2 meters. There
(6) is only one outlet in the ceiling of the engine room
approximately in the middle of the engine room, with
3.3 Computational Domain and Boundary a diameter of 1.00 meter. The isometric view of the
Conditions engine room is shown in Figure 2(a). As the domain
of the engine room is symmetric, a symmetry plane
The geometry of the engine room was created using was introduced in the mid-section of the engine room
Rhino3D. The engine room has 2 engines of 750 hp for faster convergence and more accurate results.
(551.624 kW) each and 2 generators of 170 kW each Figure 2(b) shows the Isometric view of the engine
as heat emitting components. It is also assumed that room with a symmetric plane.
the effects of other heat-emitting equipment are
negligible.

(a) (b)
Figure 2: Isometric view of (a) Engine Room and (b) with a symmetry plane
The wall & the thermal boundary conditions for the 2 types of heat emitting sources are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Boundary Conditions

Wall Parameter Condition

Velocity inlet (m/s) Depends on the air changes per hour
Outlet gauge pressure (atm) 1 atm
Initial gauge pressure (atm) 1 atm
Inlet temperature 350C
Thermal Engine 33.56 kW (6% of total power)
Generator 17.00 kW (10% of total power)

3.4 Mesh Generation

The high quality mesh was created using Star
CCM+. A local refinement zone was selected close to
the engine and generator. As the engine and generator
are complex geometries, CAD projection, Surface
curvature and Surface Proximity were also selected.
Table 2 shows the mesh metrics used to create the
mesh for numerical simulation. Figure 3 shows the
isometric view with a symmetry plane
Table 2: Mesh metrics
Base mesh 15 cm
Meshing Type Polyhedral
Number of prism layers 3
Local refinement 15% Figure 3: Isometric view of Engine Room Mesh

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3.5 Physical Settings

The physics settings applied in the numerical simulation are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Solver and viscous model used

Viscous Model Solver Settings

Model - (2 equations) Solver Pressure-based
- model Resizeable Space 3D
Fluid Real gas (equilibrium air) Gradient option Least square cell-based
Turbulent viscosity None Flow type Segregated
Y+ wall treatment Two-layer all Time Steady

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Diameter Selection

The flow rate of inlet air depends on the diameter

of the inlet duct. In the design of the ship, the
diameter of the inlet air was given as 40.00 cm. In
present study, the relation between diameter and the
velocity, mean temperature and mean outlet
temperature is compared for 12 Air changes per Hour.
Table 4: Diameter Selection
Inlet Velocity Mean Mean
dia. (m/s) temperature temperature
(cm) inside engine at outlet Figure 4: Velocity of inlet vs Diameter of duct
room (K) (K)
Figure 5 shows the mean temperature vs the inlet
20.00 18.842 314.50 314.37
diameter of the engine room. It is also an important
30.00 8.374 317.14 317.16
observation that keeping the flow rate the same and
40.00 4.711 319.11 319.08 increasing the diameter does not show a positive
50.00 3.015 321.02 321.00 result. Keeping the diameter 50 cm gives us a result
that does not satisfy ISO requirements.

Table 4 shows that at inlet diameters of 10.00 cm

and 20.00 cm, even though the ISO criteria of mean
Temperature less than 320 K is achieved, air velocity
is too high. So, at these velocities, air flow rates are
not quite optimized even though ISO requirements are
satisfied due to high velocity. In the case of 40 cm
Diameter, it can be interpreted that the velocity is not
that high, the mean Temperature inside the Engine
Room, as well as the Mean Temperature at the outlet,
are all less than 320 K which satisfies ISO
requirements. So, 40.00 cm is the most optimized
diameter of the duct.

Figure 4 shows the velocity vs Inlet diameter for 12

air changes per hour shows that with the increase of Figure 5: Mean temperatue vs Inlet diameter
inlet diameter, velocity decrease at a decreasing rate.

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4.2 Flowrate Selection

The mean temperature at different flowrate inside

the engine room is calculated. It can be inferred that
with the increase of airflow rate, Reynold’s number
increases and at the same time the mean temperature
inside the engine room as well as at the outlet
decreases. But 12 air changes per hour create a
temperature less than 320 K which is enough for the
ISO requirements and further airflow rate is
redundant. In Table 5, the mean temperatures at
different air changes are shown.
Table 5: Air changes selection
Air Mean temperature Mean Figure 6: Reynold’s Number vs Air Flow Rate
changes inside engine room temperature at
per hour (K) outlet (K)
8 324.10 324.12
12 319.11 319.08
16 316.50 316.65
20 314.94 314.48

Figures 6 and 7 show Reynold’s number vs air flow

rate and mean temperature vs air flow rate at 40 cm
inlet diameter. Different sectional views of air
temperature contour inside the engine room are shown
in Figures 8 and 9. It can be seen in the figures that
the temperature is well-distrubuted throughout the
whole domain and ISO requirements are satisfied.
Figure 7: Mean temperatue vs Air Flow Rate

(a) (b)
Figure 8: Air temperature inside Engine room at transverse cross-section of (a) Generator and (b) Engine

(a) (b)

Figure 9: Air temperature inside Engine room at longitudinal cross-section of (a) Generator and (b) Engine

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5. CONCLUSION [3] E. Alizadeh, A. Maleki, and Α. Mohamadi, “An

Investigation of the Effect of Ventilation Inlet
In present study, the following conclusions can be and Outlet Arrangement on Heat Concentration
drawn. in a Ship Engine Room”, Engineering,
Technology & Applied Science Research, Vol. 7,
1. Higher velocity and lower duct diameter of inlet No. 5, pp. 1996–2004.
air create much better cooling but in return, the [4] Jianping Chen, Jie Xu and Wang, “Numerical
blower to blow air needs to be much more Analysis of Ventilation for Ship E/R with CFD
powerful, and costly and the Engine room may Method”, International Journal of Performability
become quite noisy. So, the optimum airflow to Engineering, Vo. 14, No.3, pp.531
cool the engine room enough should have the [5] Ion Serbanescu, “Consideration Regarding
biggest priority. Maritime Ship Engine Room Ventilation
2. According to ISO 8861:1998, the outlet System”, International Journal of Innovative
temperature must be within +12.5C of the outside Research in Engineering and Management, pp.
temperature. In this work, the outside temperature 2350-0557.
is assumed to be 35C. So, the mean outlet [6] Tsan-Hsing Shih, William W. Liou, and A.
temperature should be within 47.5 C or 320.5K. Shabbir, “A new k-ϵ eddy viscosity model for
12 air change per hour mass flow rate can achieve high reynolds number turbulent flows”,
that without increasing the velocity of air further. Computers and Fluids, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 227–
238.
3. A higher duct diameter does not help to remove [7] Zhiqiang John Zhai, Zhao Zhang and Zhang,
the heat from the engine room due to low velocity. “Evaluation of various turbulence models in
So optimum diameter should be determined and, predicting airflow and turbulence in enclosed
in this case, the optimum diameter was 40 cm. environments by CFD: Part 1—summary of
4. The local heat concentration should be avoided at prevalent turbulence models”, Hvac & Research,
all costs and in this work 14 air changes per hour Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 853–870.
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part of the heat emitting elements in the engine airflow and turbulence in enclosed environments
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REFERENCES
[10] BSEN ISO, “8861: 1998, Shipbuilding-Engine-
room ventilation in diesel engined ships-design
[1] Will Newton, “Investigating the thermal profile
requirements and basis of calculations”, British
of a marine vessel engine room through
Standards.
simulation with field measurements”, Applied
[11] Caterpillar, “Application & Installation Guide
Thermal Engineering, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 1360–
Engine Room Ventilatio” , LEBW 4971-06.
1370.
[2] Hyeok Lee and Hyung-Kyun Seo, “Ventilation
Analysis for an Engine Room of a Ship”, Journal
of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea, Vol.
41, No. 5, pp. 63–69.

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