Monday, April 1, 2024

Beneath the Surface: Exploring the Cruise Ship Hull

engine of a cruise ship

At this noise level, the noise in an engine room can cause immediate damage to your hearing without proper ear protection. Every piece of equipment can be monitored from the engine control room to ensure the cruise ship runs smoothly. There are several reasons for keeping the cruise ship engine room away from passenger areas. Today cruising is one of the most popular vacations, but there are significant environmental downsides. Mega-ships burn the dirtiest fuel in the world, even if they are sitting in port.

How Loud Are Cruise Ship Engines?

These systems provide the necessary propulsion and electricity generation, supporting the operation of various onboard facilities and amenities. RMS Queen Mary 2 is equipped with exhaust gas economizers, using waste heat from engines to produce steam. Then steam is used to heat fuel and QM2 hotel accommodations, laundry, galleys. This reduces the energy amount that has to be produced by ship's engines.

Wind-assisted propulsion

For smaller machinery, such as lights in your cabin or the equipment in the galley, the electricity goes through a transformer and is stepped down into a more useable, lower voltage -- such as 110V. However, new technology and research is driving even greater efficiencies and more environmentally friendly ships. Almost 20 cruise ships will soon be in service powered by Liquified Natural Gas, or LNG; the first, AIDAnova, set sail in December 2018.

Viking Sky engine blackout was due to low oil pressure - Lloyd's List

Viking Sky engine blackout was due to low oil pressure.

Posted: Sun, 08 Oct 2023 11:33:03 GMT [source]

Diesel-Electric Propulsion

The size of the ship engine varies from ship to ship, type of stroke it has, and its power output. The ship engine can be as high as a 5 story building, and to accommodate it, the ship engine room has to be designed accordingly. Over the lifetime of a cruise ship, new technologies and fuels will become available. It is essential to have the future in mind to meet regulations, passenger demands and financiers’ preferences.

What a Cruise Ship Engine Room Looks Like

Of the three propulsion types presented here, diesel engines are the simplest technology. This technology is not that different from how the steamships of the 19th century. The pistons were connected to a crankshaft, which turned the vertical motion of the pistons into a rotational movement. The crankshaft was directly connected to the propeller through a long propeller shaft. The faster the pistons on the engine moved up and down, the faster the propeller shaft turned and the faster the ship went. In exceptionally rare instances, engines may be placed somewhere other than the very bottom of the ship; on Cunard's Queen Mary 2, the four diesel main engines are located above the keel.

Crew Accommodations and Facilities

This slip-ring unit transmits this voltage and frequency-controlled power to the synchronous motor placed inside the pod. It is solvable by the use of either an external prime mover or a damper winding. An external prime-mover rotates the rotor to a speed close to synchronous speed after which DC is available for magnetic locking.

You’re also likely to experience noise from the crew as they go to and from work throughout the day and night. Small and cramped are the defining characteristics of a cabin near the engine room. Since the engine is located in the centre/aft of the ship and on the lower decks, these rooms are not priority rooms within the context of ship design. Your first thought would probably be to stay well away from any cabins near the engine room.

Where are the Fuel Tanks?

engine of a cruise ship

The main reason for this separation is safety, such as if there is an engine fire. Should the emergency generator also fail, ships are required to have -- and we're not making this up -- a battery backup. Battery rooms provide at least 24 hours of power to an even smaller list of emergency equipment. However, the essential systems they supply are so limited, they cannot power many hotel services and are certainly not enough to move the ship.

This means that even if a fire destroys one main engine room and the generators that supply the power to move the ship, a separate engine room with enough power to propel the ship would still be operational. Much like a hybrid car, hybrid ships rely on two different types of power systems. Hurtigruten's Roald Amundsen is perhaps the best known example; the ship has extensive battery packs that will have enough stored power to operate and sail the ship, even with the main diesel engines shut down. Modern, larger cruise ships use two or three stroke, low speed, crosshead, or medium speed engines.

Regular maintenance and advanced monitoring systems are in place to maintain engine reliability and promptly address any issues that may arise. Cruise lines that have adopted hybrid electric systems have witnessed notable reductions in emissions and improved fuel efficiency, reinforcing their commitment to sustainable operations. Environmental impact considerations go beyond emissions reduction. Cruise ship engines need to comply with regulations related to ballast water management, waste management, and noise pollution. Engine selection takes into account technologies and systems that minimize these impacts, promoting sustainable practices throughout the ship’s lifecycle. Even though the hull of a cruise ship is mainly hidden from view, it serves several essential purposes.

Waste heat from the cruise ship’s engines is extracted by a series of heat exchangers located on the exhaust path after the turbochargers en-route to the scrubber. Typically, exhaust gas is approx 350°C, but it’s cooled continuously by heat extraction to approx 30°C when it emerges from the funnel. If you are in the ship’s engine room as it is running, a cruise ship engine is still pretty loud. In fact, it’s loud enough that anyone working in the engine room is required to use hearing protection equipment, or it will damage their hearing. Cruise ship operators often collaborate with engine manufacturers and designers to customize engines based on their specific needs and performance criteria.

If the generators fail to work during an emergency, cruise ships have an emergency battery backup to power the most critical systems for up to 24 hours. The special engines of LNG-powered cruise ships use natural gas cooled to approximately -260°F. Once cooled, the liquid form of natural gas is about 600 times denser than natural gas, making it easier to transport. Although you might envision the engine room as a massive open room running the ship’s length, the lower decks are divided into several water-tight compartments. One compartment may house the cruise ship water fresh water systems, another for the main engines, and another for the air conditioning.

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