Battery room maintenance in Ships.

The battery room of a ship is always under explosion risk as batteries release hydrogen during charging. Hydrogen is a highly explosive gas and it is therefore important to take necessary steps or actions while working inside the battery room during maintenance.

1) Providing proper ventilation inside the compartment.

2) By preventing any source of ignition.

3) The ventilation arrangement should be such that there is no accumulation of hydrogen in the space.

4) The fans should be of non sparking type and should not produce any static charge.

5) The tools used for maintenance should be rubberized coating to prevent any chance of short circuiting by mistake.

6) The battery should not be placed in the emergency switchboard room for there are chances of sparking due to arcing of the circuit breakers.

7) The paint used in the battery room and materials for ducting should be corrosion resistant. No metal jugs should be used for filling distilled water inside the batteries.

8)  preventing usage of naked lamps and avoiding smoking in the battery room.

9) The battery terminals should be kept clean and should be smeared with petroleum jelly.