K-values for un-insulated holds of a refrigerated container ship

The revised Lloyd's Register regulations for marine refrigerated cargo installations incorporate a new rule which stipulates that if the cells of a container ship are un-insulated a heat leakage test will be required; this rule only applies to the first ship in a series.Such a test, the first of its type, was recently carried out by Lloyd's Register on a classed container ship.This report explains the reasons why, in the majority of cases, it is not possible to attribute a temperature level to the basis of calculations. The test method adopted is also described, a method which takes radiant and convective heat transfer into account in order to simulate properly the actual service conditions. The necessary test instruments are described.The illustrations show details of steelwork in the holds and also the layout of the cells, not all of which were filled because of the limited number of containers available for the test.The report concludes with an analysis of the test results and recommends that additional tests and research should be carried out at sea with a fully loaded ship in order to resolve fully the problems of heat transfer through un-insulated holds.