MARINE PURIFIER

Group 3 BSMT 3B3

Delos Santos, Jay V.
De Villa, Paul Eugene
Dasco, Marben
Del Mundo, Mark Lorenz
Corre, Jaymar

Separation
Separation as a means of removing impurities from a fuel

can be undertaken by means of gravity in a settling tank

or by means of centrifuging the fuel. Both methods work
on the same principles that by subjecting the fuel to a
constant force, the denser components of the fuel i.e
water and dirt will be separated from the lighter
components i.e. the fuel itself.
Gravity acting on the fuel as it passes slowly through the
tank will separate the denser components from the fuel
where they will accumulate at the bottom of the tank. The
contaminants can then be remove by separation of
sludge from the tank.
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Principle of separation
If an oily water mix is placed into a tank then separation

of the two parts will begin with the lighter element rising
to the top. The rate the separation occurs is governed by
several factors including the difference in specific
gravities and the force of gravity acting upon it.
For mixes placed into a settling tank there is little that

can be done about the gravity but the difference in the

specific gravities can be increased by heating. This
because water density changes at a much reduced rate
when compared to oil.
A wide shallow tank will increase the rate of
clarification over a tall thin tank
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Principles of Separation
When a volume of light oil is placed into a

tank contain a weir and a quantity of water

the fluids will tend to arrange themselves as
shown above. The height of the water in the
weir rises to a point governed by the volume
(and thereby relative height) and specific
gravity of the light oil.
Knowing this it is possible to form a
rudimentary purification system.

Principle of separation
As a oil/water mix is fed into the tank separation

begins with heavy particulates falling to the base

of the tank along with water which joins the other
water excess overflowing the heavy phase weir.
Hopefully clear oil passes over the light phase
weir. The problem arises that to ensure their is
suffcient time to allow for full (separation of the
oily mix the flow would have to be very small
relative to the size of the tank.

Centrifuging
Centrifuging is the process by which the effects of

gravity can be amplified by the use of centrifugal

force to the extent that the separation process
becomes rapid and continuous. Centrifuges work by
rapidly spinning a bowl containing the liquid, thus
producing the required centrifugal force to produce
separation.
The principle of operation of the centrifuge is simple.
When a bowl containing impure fuel is rotated,
centrifugal forces will throw any item with density
greater than the fuel oil density (solids and free
water) to the periphery of the bowl.
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Centrifuging
Centrifugal separators used for the separation of two

liquids of different densities (fuel and water) are

known as purifiers and those used for separating
solid impurities are known as clarifiers. Purifiers will
also remove some solids and clarifiers will also
remove small quantities of water.

Principle of seperation in centrifuge

containing angled plate stack

Fluid moving between two plates has a

velocity greatest at mid point and
minimum approaching the plates.
a particle entering into the plates will
tend to be pushed upwards by the fluid
flow. All the time centrifugal force tends
to retard the horizontal component of
the movement causing the partical to
approach the underside of the top disc.
As it approaches the fluid flow velocity
reduces.
3/10/15

Mohammud Hanif Dewan, Senior Engg.

Lecturer, International Maritime Academy,
Bangladesh

The centrifugal force eventually

overcomes the force acting on the particle
due to fluid movement and the particle
starts to move towards the outer rim. The
centrifugal force acting on a particle is
proportional to its mass therefore a small
particle will tend to move further under
the influence of fluid flow. Indeed a
particle small enough will be carried
through the plates and out with the
discharge. In this way it can be seen that
reducing the flow rate to a purifier will
tend to increase the quality of the output.
3/10/15

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Types of Centrifuge:
There are normally two types based on the

application:
1) Clarifier &
2) Purifier
1) Clarifier:
When a centrifugal is arranged to remove only impurities
and small amount of water, it is called as clarifier. Since
it is used mainly for that fluid where mostly solid
impurities are to be removed, gravity disc is not used in
clarifier; instead a sealing ring is used to keep the
impurities intact unless desludged.
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Clarifier

The particle is pushed upwards with the oil stream

towards the centre while the centrifugal force directs it

to the periphery. The residual force on denser particles
(impurities) will drive them towards the periphery, while
the less dense particles (oil) will be directed towards
the centre of the bowl and raise to the outlet
connection.

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Clarifier

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2) Purifier:
When a centrifuge is arranged for separating two liquids
of different densities, for e.g. water from oil, it is known
as a purifier. The main component of purifier is correct
size gravity disc or dam ring which is responsible to
create interface between the oil and water.
The basic operations of clarifier and purifier are:
- It contains stack of disk numbering up to 150 and are
separated from each other by very small gap. A series
of holes are aligned in each disk near the outside edge
which permits the entry of dirty oil.
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- Due to difference in gravity and centrifugal force,

the heavier impure liquid (water) and particles moves
outside and lighter clean oil flows inwards and get
separated.
- The collected sludge and impurity can be discharged
continuously or at a time intervals, depending upon the
construction, automation and system incorporated.

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Purifier
When a centrifuge is set up as a purifier, a

second outlet pipe is used for discharging

water as shown. In the fuel oil purifier, the
untreated fuel contains a mixture of oil, solids
and water, which the centrifuge separates into
three layers. While in operation, a quantity of
oil remains in the bowl to form a complete seal
around the underside of the top disc and,
because of the density difference, confines the
oil within the outside diameter of the top disc.
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Purifier
As marine fuel oil normally contains a small

quantity of water, it is necessary to prime the

bowl each time that it is run, otherwise all the oil
will pass over the water outlet side to waste. The
water outlet is at greater radius than that of the
fuel. Within the water outlet there is a gravity
disc, which controls the radial position of the fuel
water interface

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Purifier

A set of gravity discs is supplied with each

machine and the optimum size to be fitted

depends on the density of the untreated oil.
When the fuel centrifuge is operating,
particulate matter will accumulate on the
walls of the bowl. If the centrifuge is set as a
clarifier, the particulate matter will be a
combination of water and solid material.

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Purifier
If it is set as a purifier, the free water is

continuously discharged, therefore, the

particulate matter will consist of solid
material. In older machines it is necessary to
stop the centrifuge to manually clean the bowl
and disc stack, however, the majority of
machines today can discharge the bowl
contents while the centrifuge is running.

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Purifier

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Purifier Operation

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The following factors are of importance when understanding the function of the purifier

Increasing the sg of the oil will tend to push the

interface outlet and cause overflow from the heavy

phase outlet untill the equilibrium is restored. Should
the interface be moved so far as to breach the dam oil
will be issued from the heavy phase outlet and an
alarm will sound.The ideal position for the interface is
to lie over the distribution holes
Reducing the sg of the oil will tend to bring the
interface towards the axis, this reduces the force of
separation on the oil mix and reduces the efficiency of
the unit possibly leading to contaminants and water
carryover with the light phase outlet
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- The "gravity" disc are changeable on

virtually all purifers. Their centre bore is
governed by the sg of the oil being
centrifuged. The largest bore should be
used without risking overflow.
- The flow rate of a purifer should be set
to optimise removal of whole system
impurities. The lower the oil feed the
greater the time for impurity removal and
the more efficient the purification. The
higher the rate the greater the amount of
system oil is treated per unit of time.

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Choosing Gravity Disc

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The graph shown above is one typical of one

found in a purifier instruction book for
selecting appropriate gravity disc size. Shown
on the diagram is an example of an oil of sg
0.93 at 0'C. The sg at 15'C for use with this
graph is found by projecting along a
horizontal line to 15'C. This step would be
omitted if the sg at 15'C was already known.
A line is then drawn parallel to the pre-drawn
sloping lines. Where the drawn sloping line
cuts the appropriate oil supply temperature
isothermal then This becomes the selection
point for the disc. This is found simply by
ascertaining which size band the point lies in.

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PARTS OF A PURIFIER

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Basic components of the centrifuge are as follows:

Exterior framework:

The exterior frame work is normally made up of caste iron

which supports the internal bowl and disk parts and
carries water line, feed line and outlet line connections.
Bowl and disk:
There are bowls inside the frame, which can be a solid
assembly operating non continuous and have space
enough to retain the separated sludge. There can also be
an arrangement in which the upper and lower parts are
separate for discharging the accumulated sludge by a
continuous operation. These parts are normally made up
of high tension stainless steel.
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Vertical shaft:
The Vertical shaft is used to transform the electrical motor output into
rotational motion for rotating the bowl in high speed through spur
gear and horizontal shaft or belt. material used for vertical shaft
construction is an alloy of steel.
Horizontal shaft or belt drive:
The electrical motor drives the horizontal shaft through clutch pads
and is used for transmitting the rotational motion to bowl assembly. A
special belt having elastic character is used in some models in place
of horizontal shaft, thus removing the use of the gear assembly. The
horizontal shaft material is a special alloy of steel.
Attached Gear pump:
A general construction of centrifuge consists of a horizontal shaft
driven attached supply or discharge gear pump. In some system an
external supply pump may be installed in place of the attached
pump.
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Spur gear:
A spur gear is placed between the horizontal and vertical
shafts for the transfer of rotational motion. These gears are
manufactured by special aluminum bronze material.
Clutch or friction pads:
An electric motor will get overloaded if it is connected directly
to the bowl assembly for the rotation of the same as the
complete assembly is very heavier. To avoid this, clutch or
friction pads and drum assembly are installed on the
horizontal shaft. Normally the number of pads varies from 2
to 4 depending upon the frequency supply to the motor.
As the motor starts, the pads inside the drum moves out
gradually due to centrifugal force and cause friction in the
internal wall of the drum resulting in rotation of the shaft and
the bowl gradually without overloading and damaging the
motor and gears.
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Thank you!
Group 3 BSMT 3B3
Delos Santos, Jay V.
De Villa, Paul Eugene
Dasco, Marben
Del Mundo, Mark Lorenz
Corre, Jaymar

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