In ship, the chief engineer is always in charge of the air condition and refrigerator plants. But in some cases whereby chief engineer is busy with other things, 2nd Engineer can manage any problem that may come up with these plants.
On this article, we are going to explain little basic things you need to know about starting and stopping these plants.
Lets say your ship have two air compressors and number one is running, but u like to change to number two plant in other to stop the running one, here are steps you need to take, for the safety of the compressor.
1. Close The liquid line V/V – while the #1 compression is running, close the liquid line valve to pump down the gas to the condenser. During this process, the #1 compressor will shutdown automatically due to low pressure.
2. Close the #1 suction and discharge valve fully – this process will insulate this compressor from been pressurized when #2 starts.
3. Open #2 compressor Discharge valve fully, open the liquid line halfway 🌓, then open same #2 suction valve about 1/3 ( three or four turns, then wait for 1 or 2 mins and start the compressor.
Note: once the compressor starts, open the suction valve slowly till fully open, the also go to liquid line valve and open slowly till fully open. Check your pressures while opening the suction valve and after all valves are fully open as explained above.
You can drop your questions on the comment box below.
