8 Mistakes You Should Never Make While

Handling CO2 Fire Fighting System

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 BY MOHIT4 COMMENTS

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CO2 fixed fire fighting system is the last resort available on board
ships for fighting major engine room or compartment space fires. The
requirement for CO2 fire extinguishing is to discharge 85% of CO2 gas
in the fire affected space within 2 minutes in the engine room and 10
minutes in the cargo holds. This means that there is no time to refer to
the manuals or understand the CO2 system during emergency
situations. Needless to say, any mistake while operating the CO2
system can lead to devastating situation.

It is the duty of ship management officers to ensure that all crew

members know the exact location of the system and correct
procedure for operation of the CO2 System.
Following are the most common mistakes that take place while
operating CO2 system and those which mariners should never make:
1. Unfamiliar with the System: The CO2 room comprises of CO2 bottle
banks segregated for engine room and cargo holds. Not knowing which
bank is dedicated to which area may cause confusions and delay
during emergency.
2. Wrong Operating Procedure: The Co2 system comprises of many
valves and levers which need to be operated in a sequential manner.
The crew must know the correct order of operating the valves which
includes activation of alarm , operation of pilot bottle and opening of
the correct location for discharge of CO2 gas.
3. Not Checking the Pipes for Corrosion: The CO2 gas is carried to
various compartments of the ship via small pipelines. These pipelines
must be checked for corrosion and damage, for in emergency if the
correct quantity of gas is not reached due to leakage, the fire will not
be suppressed.
4. Improper Tightening After Maintenance: If the pipe connections,
bottle connections or links which operates the CO2 bottles are not
tightened properly after maintenance, CO2 system will not operate or
will not be effective for suppressing the fire.
5. Not Performing Leak Test and Level Measurement: Leak test of the
complete system to be performed at designated interval by
responsible ship officer. Any detection of leak to be immediately
rectified. Level measurement is another important procedure to be
performed at regular intervals with CO2 bottle level measuring
instrument. Avoidance of these procedure will lead to less amount of
CO2 reaching the affected compartment which will not suppress the
fire.
6. Not Blowing Out Water from the Line: As the ship sails in varying
temperature zones, the pipes tend to accumulate condensed water
which leads to blockage of the line and corrosion. It is important to
clear the lines by blowing it with pressurized air at regular intervals of
time.
7. Failure of Sealing the Concerned Compartment: The CO2 gas
suppresses the oxygen in the compartment. The system can work very
effectively when the compartment is properly sealed. It is important to
find time to properly seal the compartment before releasing the CO2
gas as failure to do so will lead to improper fire suppression and once
CO2 is released, the system cannot be stopped until fully discharged.
8. Not Informing Fellow Crew While Testing/Operating the
System: Fatal Incidents have been reported of crew members getting
trapped in the compartment while CO2 has been released, leading to
suffocation and death. Before testing or operating the CO2 system, all
crew members must be informed of the same and remove all from the
compartment.
These are some of the important points to remember while handling
CO2 fire fighting system. Do you know of any other important points?
Let us know in the comments below.