Introduction

In order to protect the health and performance of the personnel and passengers on commercial ships, and to maintain the quality of the cargo carried, the relevant spaces must be ventilated and air-conditioned.

 Air conditioning is the process of adjusting the air in a volume to the desired conditions. The essential element here is air. According to the need, the air is filtered and cleaned from the suspended materials, heated, cooled, humidified or dehumidified. However, in order for these processes to take place, air must first move.

 This air movement, called ventilation, is done separately with exhaust fan, fresh air fan or circulation fan. In air-conditioning devices, this air movement is done by aspiration fans that suck the air and, by the supply fans that forces the revitalized air back to the room.

Volumes such as engine rooms, battery rooms, car parks are ventilated 100% with exhaust, fresh air and/or circulation fans, taking into account the external weather conditions. Living places, stores and holds are air-conditioned in accordance with the requirements. Air conditioning is a general terminology that consists of air purification and air re-vitalization processes realized via specially designed machines and systems working within the framework of a logic and certain principles.

Marine Engineers are responsible to operate ventilation and air conditioning systems on the ship in an economical, continuous, efficient, safe, secure and environmentally friendly manner. Therefore, continuous adjustment and control of the operating parameters of these systems is required. Marine Engineers should use and observe the command-and-control system elements and their signals relevant. They should perform corrective actions with necessary analysis, interpretation and decisions.