Automatic Fire Extinguisher

An Automatic Fire Extinguisher Is Vital in a Ship’s Engine Room

The automatic fire extinguisher is for use in closed compartments such as the engine rooms of ships where fire can happen because of the intense heat coming from the running engines. It is also useful for vehicle engine compartments, which are generally closed and activates automatically when the temperature reaches 79oC, which could be the start of a fire in the heated engine room. This kind of fire extinguisher's design to activate on its own is necessary because there might not be anybody in the engine room all the time monitoring the temperature levels.

Fires in the ships normally start in the engine room which may have malfunctioning automatic fire extinguishers, or which may not have any of these types of fire extinguishers. Marine fires, not checked in the early stages, could be big disasters as a ship may be all alone by itself in the ocean, and no help can come to its rescue. It could result in the deaths of hundreds of its passengers and crew as the firefighting capability of a ship on its own may not be enough to contain an uncontrolled fire. If the ship is in port or near to a pier area, there could be fireboats, which have equipment like any fire truck that can help in putting out the marine fire.

But if the ship is out at sea alone, the result of a fire aboard ship could be tragic. Lives of people are at extreme risk if they cannot abandon ship on time before the flames engulf them. Many marine disasters have ended this way, all because the automatic fire extinguisher in the ship’s engine room was not able to do its job of suppressing an engine room fire early.

Good if a fire on the ship is not coming from the engine room. This kind of fire can be dealt with like any other fire on land with other kinds of fire extinguishers, which the ship also must have like any building on land. The marine fire that begins in the engine room however is another story, if the automatic fire extinguisher failed to function when needed.

The automatic powder fire extinguisher now in the market are for use in vehicle and marine engine compartments, while automatic extinguishers with inert gas are for computer equipment and enclosed environments. They are compact and economical to use, with the stored pressure already in place and ready for use. They are low cost in maintenance so a ship owner must not scrimp on the budget for them on his ship. They come with the usual 5-year warranty and are safe to use on electrical equipment. The automatic fire extinguisher is suitable for use against Class A, B and C fires and mounted at any angle suited to hit the burning engine automatically. Other characteristics are that they are powder coated, and come with a steel bracket for easy installation anywhere in an engine room.