The propulsion engines aren’t the only equipment in an engine room.
The engine room is home to much more than the power plants that drive the boat. It’s the space where most of the other mechanical equipment that powers the onboard systems are installed. Generators, pumps, compressors, and auxiliary machinery are typically found in the engine room to centralize equipment for ease of maintenance and to free up space for passenger comfort. Here are a few types of onboard power equipment you’ll find in the engine room beyond the engines themselves.
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Watermakers
SeaWater Pro designs and manufacturers saltwater desalinators from small portable systems to modular setups to compact systems that are best for medium to large vessels with limited space. SeaWater Pro’s newest Piranha compact modular system comes fully assembled as a plug-and-play unit that is ready to go in five minutes using the boat’s inverter or generator and produces 30 gallons per hour. The modular series can produce up to 40 gallons per hour and is available with either the U.S. 60Hz or the European 50Hz motor. seawaterpro.com
Reverse Osmosis of South Florida has been providing solutions to water quality problems for 35 years focusing on FCI Watermakers systems. From the Aqualite series for sail and power boats that produces up to 200 gallons per day to the Neptune unit for large yachts that can make up to 10,000 gallons per day, FCI has designed and manufactured water purification systems for more than 30 years. The Max-Q+ and Max-Q+APC are the latest evolution of the Max-Q product line and
can produce up to 1,850 gallons per day. fciwatermakers.com; reverse-osmosis.net
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Compressors for Dive Equipment
Bauer Compressors has a number of offerings with the Junior II and Oceanus models designed for sport divers. The air purification system is available in a single-phase 115/230 VAC and 230/460 VAC electric, gasoline, or diesel engine drive. Charging rate is 2.9 to 4.9 SCFM (standard cubic feet per minute) based on 1.5-hp to 6-hp. The time to fill a cylinder is about 14 minutes. bauercomp.com
Coltri Compressors offer portable to heavy-duty lines, with the Icon portable fitting most yachts. The Icon is available as electric or fuel with one cylinder connection and a maximum working pressure of 330 bar. The standard operating voltage is 400V, 50Hz with other options available, and the charging rate is 3.5 CFM, which equates to about a 20-minute fill time. coltri.com
Stabilizers
Smart Gyro stabilizers use a flywheel that spins at very high revolution to produce angular momentum to counteract boat roll. Contained in a compact housing, the flywheel is in a sealed vacuum enclosure to minimize air drag. Smart Gyro stabilizers are designed for boats from 45 feet to 95 feet in length. smartgyro.com
Coastal Offshore X-cellence is a marine electrical engineering company partnering with CMC Marine, the standard in fin stabilizing systems with several innovative, patented, award-winning products, starting with the world’s first electrically actuated stabilizing system. What’s nice about fin systems is that
they don’t take up too much space in the engine room. The HS system is optimized for planing yachts, and the LR system is designed for displacement or semi-displacement yachts. The compact waveless STAB fin stabilizers are the new generation for yachts 40 feet to 115 feet in length. coastaloffshorex-cellence.com; cmcmarine.com
Generators
Fischer Panda has a selection of AC and DC as well as custom generators for large yachts up to 100kW. Fischer Panda utilizes Kubota twin- and triple-cylinder diesel engines in its AC generators from the 5000, ideal for sailboats and smaller powerboats, to the 15 DP for larger yachts. All the generators are ignition-protected for boats that use gasoline fuel. fischerpanda.com
Phasor Marine uses a Kubota- or John Deere-based engine in its generators. The unit uses an impeller pump to cool the water through a heat exchanger to reduce coolant temperature. The 60Hz, single-bearing brushless generator will run at 1,800 rpm, and all Phasor generators feature 12V starting and automatic shut down when oil pressure is low or coolant temperature is too high. phasormarine.com
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Air Conditioners
Dometic Marine’s new Turbo series are variable-capacity, self-contained air-conditioning units that regulate compressor speed based on the cooling or heating demand in your vessel. Once the boat has reached the desired set point, the compressor will run at a reduced speed, which results in a quiet operation, power efficiency, improved dehumidification, and a constant temperature for ultimate comfort. The Voyager TX18 reaches temperature through its 12,000-18,000 BTU/h rating. dometic.com
Termodinamica Marine’s air-conditioning system uses an innovative inverter compressor that is based on variable refrigerant volume (VRV) architecture. It features a single condensing unit and multiple air handlers. The VRV system achieves performance ratios that can provide air conditioning using 9kW instead of the 25kW required by standard water chillers. termodinamicamarine.com
Fire Safety
United Safety’s Fireboy-Xintex offers fire suppression systems as well as fire and gas detection products with total flooding, clean agent fire suppression systems as their specialty. The FK-5-1-12 clean extinguishing agent puts out engine room fires by removing heat (as opposed to removing oxygen). The system is designed to fully empty the contents in less than 10 seconds, and no cleanup is required. The pre-engineered and engineered systems will suppress Class A, B, and C fires. fireboy-xintex.com
-by Jeremy Peters
