What Are Purifiers
and Why to Use
Them on Ship
A purifier is equipment with
the sole purpose of purifying
or cleaning the given media.
On the ship, they are also
referred to as Centrifuge
(equipment using centrifugal
action to separate two medium).
Centrifugal force - an apparent force that acts outward on a body moving around a
center, arising from the body's inertia.
Centripetal force - is the necessary inward force that keeps the mass from moving in a
straight line; it is the same size as centrifugal force, with the opposite sign
Marine fuel oil taken from bunker contains solid contaminants such as ash, carbon, cat
fines and dust that if remained unchecked will accelerate normal wear and tear
damaging cylinder liner, piston, piston rings and fuel injector.
Further we have water particles in the bunker fuel. Which if remained unchecked will
assist in chemical reaction between vanadium and sodium forming sticky liquid salts
during combustion process.
It may also leads to situation such as cavitation of injectors, microbial formation, ignition
delays and subsequent reduction in quality of oil.
After receiving the fuel oil in bunker tank we transfer them to first storage tanks and
then to settling tanks where the heavier contaminants and water gets separated under
the effect of heat.
The fuel is then further purified using a centrifugal purifier to remove sludge, water, and
solid contaminants completely.
Difference Between Centrifugal Purifier And Clarifier
Centrifugal Purifier Centrifugal Clarifier
It is a type of centrifuge that can It is a type of centrifuge that can
separate two liquid substances based on only separate solid contaminant
their difference in density. from a liquid medium.
Gravity disc is used and thus separates No gravity disc in the system. Thus it
both solid and water. only separates solid contaminants.
No such requirement of sealing
Sealing water is required for operation.
water.
Lower discs have holes and have two The lower disc has no holes and
outputs at the top; one for water and there is just one outlet at the top for
other oil. oil.
Can only be used in series with a
It Can or cannot be used in a series of
centrifugal purifier on ship due to
centrifugal purifiers.
presence of water.
Construction Features of Centrifugal Purifier
A centrifugal purifier consists of various parts such as the bowl, disc stack,
gravity disc, electric motor, inlet-outlet ports, rotating shaft, friction pads,
shafts, gearbox, and automation devices.
Electric motor
A purifier consists of an electric motor which drives the various component,
such as Bowl, Nodge(rotating counter), Tachometer, Gear-pump(via pinion
gear)
Friction Clutch
The complete purifier assembly is too heavy for a motor to take the full
load from start without overheating. Thus to safeguard and protect the
electric motor from damage friction clutch are installed on the horizontal
shaft.
These pads gradually move out under centrifugal force connecting the
motor directly to the bowl once the system attends a preset required
momentum. To start the revolution of the Bowl, it is necessary that the
Friction clutch engage with the Drum.
It acts as a safeguard against heavy starting current. If there would have
been a solid coupling, then due to a large starting current the winding of
the motor will simply overheat and burn.
So friction coupling allows for some time, and after certain R.P.M is being
achieved by the motor the coupling gets engaged.
The Gear Box
The gearbox assembly in a centrifugal purifier consists of a motor shaft,
friction clutch, the breaking lever, spur gear, worm gear, and attached gear
pump.
The Bowl & Disc Stack
The bowl is a solid assembly that operates within the purifier frame made
of high tensile steel with ample space to accumulate and discharge sludge.
Purifier and clarifier bowls have conical disc stack, which may be numbered
from 150 to 200 and are separated from each other by a small gap.
Small holes are provided on these disc stacks where the interference line is
formed and separation takes place. The centrifugal force causes oil to move
inward and water and solid particle to move outward.
Rotating Shaft & Automation
The bowl is driven by an electric motor using bevel gear to produce
centrifugal action. The vertical shaft rotated the bowl at high speed and is
connected with horizontal shaft using a spur gear.
The horizontal shaft is driven directly by the electric motor through a clutch
plate or friction plate. Apart from other mechanical devices a centrifuge
also have an automation circuit consist of transducers, monitor, detectors,
solenoid valve and control panel.
Gravity Disc & Pairing Discs
Also known as the damn ring it is fitted on top of the disc stack to create an
oil-water interface based on density difference. It is another disc fitted at
the neck of the bowl converting rotational energy into pressure energy.
Nomogram - a diagram representing the relations between three or more variable
quantities by means of a number of scales, so arranged that the value of one variable
can be found by a simple geometric construction
Sealing water - is used to form a water phase within the bowl prior to performing a purifier-run
and prevent feed liquid from flowing out of the heavy liquid side when it is supplied
The Interface Is The Boundaries Of Layers Between The Separating Liquid And It Is
Important To Maintain Inside The Bowl Of The Centrifugal Separator To Attain The
Effectiveness Of Purification.
We all know that centrifuges are an important type of auxiliary equipment on board
ships and that they are classified into two operating functions.
One is Clarifier, which separates solids from liquids.
Other type is a Purifier, which separates liquids of different density.
The Purifier operates on the principle of separation by centrifugal force. But in order to
optimize the purification process, certain parameters should be adjusted before purifier
is started. Out of those parameters, very important parameters are...
1. Feed inlet oil temperature,
2. Density of Oil,
3. R.P.M of the rotating bowl,
4. Back Pressure,
5. Throughput of oil feed.
Insight Of the Parameters...!
1. Feed inlet oil temperature: Before entering the purifier, the dirty oil passes through
the heater, which increases the temperature, thus reducing the viscosity of the oil to be
purified. The lower the viscosity, the better will be the purification.
2. Density of Oil: As the dirty oil entering the purifier is heated to reduce the viscosity,
the density also reduces. The lower the density, better the seperation.
3. R.P.M of the rotating bowl: If the purifier has not achieved full rpm(revolutions per
second), then the centrifugal force will not be sufficient enough to aid the seperation.
4. Back Pressure: The back pressure should be adjusted after the purifier is started. The
back pressure varies as the temperature, density, viscosity of feed oil inlet varies. The
back pressure ensures that the oil paring disc is immersed in the clean oil on the way of
pumping to the clean oil tank.
5. Throughput of oil feed: Throughput means the quantity of oil pumped into the
purifier/hr. In order to optimize the purification, the throughput must be minimum.
Pre-checks before starting a Purifier...!
Before starting a Purifier, following checks are very essential:
1. If the Purifier is started after a overhaul, then check all fittings are fiited in right
manner. The bowl frame hood locked with hinges.
2. Check the Oil level in the gear case. Ensure that it is exactly half in the sight glass. Also
ensure the sight glass is in vertical position, as there is a common mistake of fixing it in
horizontal position.
3. check the direction of rotation of the seperator, by just starting and stopping the
purifier motor.
4. Check whether the brake is in released position.
Starting a Purifier...!
1. Ensure the lines are set and respective valves are open. Usually the lines are set from
settling tank to service tank.
2. Start the purifier feed pump with the 3-way re-circulation valve in a position leading
to settling tank.
3. Open the steam to the heater slightly ensuring the drains are open so that the
condensate drains. close the drains once steam appears.
4. Start the Purifier.
5. Check for vibrations, check the gear case for noise and abnormal heating.
6. Note the current (amps) during starting. It goes high during starting and then when
the purifier bowl
picks-up speed & when it reaches the rated speed, the current drawn drops to normal
value.
7. Ensure the feed inlet temperature has reached optimum temperature for seperation
as stated in the Bunker report & nomogram ( bunker delivery note gives the density of
the fuel and using this we can get the seperation temperature and gravity disc size from
the nomogram)
Temperature:
Temp should not exceed 98’C as this may cause the sealing water to boil & loose bowl seal
Higher temp assist in the separation process
8. Now check whether the bowl has reached the rated speed by looking at the
revolution counter. The revolution counter gives the scaled down speed of the bowl. The
ratio for calculation can be obtained from the manual.
9. Now, after the bowl reaching the rated rpm, check for current attaining its normal
value.
De-sludge procedure:
10. Open the Bowl closing water/Operating water, which closes the bowl. (Ensure
sufficient water is present in the operating water tank)
11. Now after 10 seconds, open the sealing water to the bowl.
12. The sealing water should be kept open till the water comes out of the waste water
outlet.
13. Once the water overflows throught the waste water outlet, stop the sealing water.
14. Now open the de-sludge water/bowl opening water. (this is done to ensure the bowl
has closed properly). During de-sludge we can hear a characteristic sound by the
opening of the bowl.
15. Repeat the steps 10, 11 ,12 & 13.
16. Open the 3-way re-circulation valve such that the dirty oil feed is fed into the
purifier.
17. Wait for the back pressure to build up.
18. Check for overflowing of dirty-oil through waste water outlet & sludge port.
19. Now adjust the throughput to a value specified in the manual. Correspondingly
adjust the back pressure too.
20. Now the purifier is put into operation. Change over the clean-oil filling valve to
service tank.
After-checks & stopping of purifier...!
Checks after starting the purifier during regular watches:
1. Adjust the throughput, back pressure, temperature of feed inlet if necessary
2. gear case oil level, motor amps, general leakages, vibration have to be monitored
3. De-sludge every 2 hours for heavy oil purifiers & every 4 hours for lubricating oil
purifiers.( refer manual or chief engineer instructions)
Stopping of Purifiers:
1. De-sludge the purifier after stopping the feed inlet.
2. shut down the steam inlet to the oil.
3. Stop the purifier after filling up the bowl with water.
4. Apply brakes and bring up the purifier to complete rest.
5. If any emergency, the purifiers has emergency stops, on pressing it, will stop the
purifiers immediately shutting off the feed.
