Centrifugal Purifiers/Clarifiers

Purifiers and Clarifiers differ only in that clarifiers are not set up to remove water. Their design are similar to the point that most purifiers found on board can be converted to use as a clarifier with simple alteration of the gravity disc If an oily water mix is placed into a tank then speration of the two parts will begin with the lighter element rising to the top. The rate the seperation 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. The limiting factor to this is that the water cannot be heated above 1 !C for obvious reasons. " wide shallow tank will increase the rate of clarification over a tall thin tank

Principles of operation

#hen a volume of light oil is placed into a tank contain a weir and a $uantity 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. 'nowing this it is possible to form a rudimentary purification system.

"s a oil(water mix is fed into the tank seperation begins with heavy particulates falling to the base of the tank along with water which )oins the other water excess overflowing the heavy phase weir. *opefully clear oil passes over the light phase weir. The problem arises that to ensure their is suffcient time to allow for full%seperation of the oily mix the flow would have to be very small relative to the si+e of the tank.

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. "ll the time centrifugal foce tends to retard the hori+ontal component of the movement causing the partical to approach the underside of the top disc. "s it approaches the fluid flow velocity reduces. The centrifugal force eventually overcomes the force acting on the partical due to fluid movement and th epartical starts to move towards the oute 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 $uality of the output.

Basic centrifuge

The basic centrifuge differs than that described above most obviously by sitting on its side. In reality it takes the form of a round bowl a cross section of which will show something like that seen above. ,ravity is replaced by centripetal force as the bowl is spun at high revolutions thereby creating very high g-forces. " disc stack is incorporated to encourage a laminar flow increaseing improving the seperation effect. .irty oil is introduced via a centreline oil feed dip tube. The oil is led to distribution holes which are refected in the disc stack but not the dam The following factors are of importance when understanding the function of the purifier
o

Increasing the sg of the oil will tend to push the interface outlet and cause overflow from the heavy phase outlet untill the e$uilibrium is restored. /hould 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 0educing the sg of the oil will tend to bring the interface towards the axis1 this reduces the force of speration on the oil mix and reduces the efficacy of the unit possibly leading to contaminants and water carryover with the light phase outlet the 2gravity2 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. For a system such as main engine oil where contaminants are continuously being added to the system. "s a rule of thumb the total volume of the system should pass through the purifer three times every 34 hours1 this rate may be vary depending on operational parameters. " similar calculation has to be made with fuel oil to ensure removal of water and sludges which may accummulate over time.

Choosing Gravity Disc

The graph shown above is one typical of one found in a purifer instruction book for selecting appropriate gravity disc si+e. /hown on the diagram is an example of an oil of sg .56 at !C. The sg at 17!C for use with this graph is found by pro)ecting along a hori+ontal line to 17!C. This step would be omitted if the sg at 17!C was already known. " line is then drawn parallel to the pre-drawn sloping lines. #here 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 si+e band the point lies in.

Self cleaning centrifuge

The ma)ority of purifers found on board are of the self cleaning type intat they are able to open the bowl to discharge any accummulated sludge. "part from the sliding bowl the main difference is the centripetal pump over the simple design. In this a fixed centrigual style impeller is mounted in the light phase outlet drawing the oil and discharging it at pressure sufficient to deliver it to the receiving tank. " discharge valve is fitted which is ad)usted to give a constant back pressure in the bowl. The ad)ustment of this back pressure tends to move the position of the interface but more importantly increases the oil in the light phase delivery chamber increaseing the immersion depth of the lip of the pump. This reduces possiblility of air being entrained and removes foaming.. In the event of bowl failure back pressure will fall1 this may be detected by a pressure switch initiaing a shut down Desludge event For the bowl shown above a typical se$uence of events would be8 p class 9 2noindent2: 1. ;owl online 3. sludge cycle timer activates and bowl comes off line %heater may be disconnected at this time 6. <il feed stopped 4. <il still in bowl displaced by addition of a $uantity of displacement water 7. ;owl open control water passed to bowl via distributor1 bowl opens =. ;owl open water discharged via a small orifice >. ;owl closes ?. /eal water added 5. <il feed commenced1 timer started to give set time for back pressure to build up for oil disharge 1 . heater reconnected Typical alarms and shut downs

The following gives a general list of alarms only some of which may be fitted.
o o

o o o

;ack Pressure shutdown- this measures the discharge oil pressure and alarms and initiates a shut down when below a set value *eavy phase overflow. <il has a much higher visccosity than water. The heavy phase outlet is led to asmall catchment tank containg a float. The outlet from the tank is restricted in such a way that water flows freely but oil tends to back up. This initiates an alarm and shut down ;owl not open- This may be dome in several ways1 typically by a lever switch operated by the discharged sludge hitting a striker plate. " nouther method is by measuring the motor current1 when the bowl opens the bowl speed is dragged down due to friction effects of the dischargeing sludge and water. The motor current rises until full speed is reestablished. This is detected by a current sensing relay #ater in oil- This found on modern designs which have a detection probe mounted in the oil discharge *igh temperature alarm and shut down @ow control(seal water pressure. #here control water is supplied via a fixed small header tanks a float switch may be fitted.

Other Designs
Sharples constant sludging *eres one to send a shiver down the spine of anybody of my age. This consisted essentially of a standard non desludging bowl into which were drilled small holes on the circumference fitted with no++les. /eal water was pumped continuously from a small catchment tank mounted ad)acent to the purifer into the bowl where it passed though to be e)ected through the )ets. It then drained to the catchment tank. .irty oil would float to the surface where it would overflow though a surface mounted skimmer to the sludge tank. Theoretically the bowl could run for considerable periods without cleaning. The reality was one to two weeks1 bowl cleaning included patiently trying to clear the small bore no++les. I remember loading bunkers which were brick red1 it contained lots of sand. The purifer was permenantly overflowing to an extent we had to use the second purifier to run on the sludge tank. ;owl cleans were every day with the other engineers playing the !it best if one person concentrates on them! card. The worst aspect was the Chief Angineer who used to lie in wait for me when I was called out during the night. <n sneaking back to for some sleep he would drag me into to his cabin % which was next to mine& for a thank you drink- this inevitably lasted untill ? am

odern trends
The most obvious trend is that towars online sludging. In this during normal operation a small $uanity of extra seal water is added and the bowl opened for an extremently short period of time thus removing the need to interupt the process.

Control and Operating water

#ater must be supplied at a fixed pressure to ensure that the $uantity supplied to the purifer is constant for the set parameters. The water normally comes from the vessels hot water system or is independently heated to reduce thermal shocking and to prevent cooling of the hot oil

Drive

Considerable tor$ue would be re$uired to direct drive the bowl upto speed using an appropriately si+ed electric motor. In addition very high loading would occur on the gear train1 to prevent scuffing due to oil film breakdown would re$uire large mating areas therby large gear trains which would again increase the starting load. " centrifugal clutch arrangement is fitted which has between 3 and = ferrodo lined brake pads. These are designed to slip during the start up period and also to a much lesser extent during the speed up period after de-sludge. Purifer manufacturers will usually $uote a maximum and BICIBDB start up time. "s the pads wear it may be necessary to remove and restore the mating surface to keep the start up time correct. "s a last measure the number of pads should be altered The electric motor may be of special design allowing for a long period of slight overload during the start up period. The gear train is generally a single stage worm and wheel arrangement with the wheel being made of a softer material. @ubrication is normally splash only1 the viscosity of the oil is essential to prevent wear as the form of lubrication is mainly boundary therefore the wear is governed by the viscosity and additives contained within the oil. #hen wear occurs it will be scuffing and relative movement between the mating faces polishes out any pitting. "s wear worsens galling occurs destroying the running surface. This damage is reflected in both elements therefore both should be changed. "s well as overload other causes of premature failure are poor design % step forward westfalia&1 poor material choice1 poor lube oil choice1 too long a de-sludge period relative to supplied oil $uality1 out of balance bowl1 failing bearing set in particular the vertical shaft upper resilient bearing arrangement

The use of planned maintenance is essential particularly with respect to bearing changes. It is strongly recommended to monitor condition using vibration analysis

Bowl Cleaning
/hould be carried out at regular intervals not exceeding manufacturers recommendations. Avery care should be taken not to score the surfaces of the bowl especially the sliding surfaces for de-sludging types. The disc stack is generally numbered and should be built up as per this system as the stack is a balanced unit.

!ater washing
This was a techni$ues employed some time ago to improve purification of lube oil and to remove acids. It involved continuously adding a small $uantity of water at oil temperature to the oil inlet which would pass through and overflow. This is much out of favour as it tends to remove the essential oil additives in particualr detergents. "n alternative is to in)ect steam which improves the removal of colloidal carbon by causing it to coagulate

Typical Circuit

/hown is a typical circuit for a lube oil system although it can e$ually be applied to a fuel system. Control is achieved by the three way valve which eitherdiverst oil to recirculate or sends it to the purifer. <il flow rate is controlled by the oil control valve situated before the positive displacement delivery pump which is driven off the purifier hori+ontal shaft via a weak link arrangement ;ack pressure from the purifer is controlled at oultet via the back pressure control valve

Damage

/hown is typical damage to the sealing face of a sliding bowl. This has been caused by either poor assembly or by hard material being trapped aft the bowl closes. Dnfortuately it is more likely to be the former. Failure is detected by loss of sealing water as seen down the sludge shute. In addition there will be carryover to the heavy phase and loss of discharge pressure as the seal is exhausted. #e have already discussed the basic principle of operation of purifiers. @ets learn how to start and stop purifiers1 and about necessary safety precautions before starting1 de-sludging procedures1 and emergency stopping. #e all know that centrifuges are an important type of auxiliary e$uipment on board ships and that they are classified into two operating functions. <ne is a clarifier1 which separates solids from li$uids. The other type is a purifier1 which separates li$uids of different density. The Purifier operates on the principle of separation by centrifugal force. ;ut in order to optimi+e the purification process1 certain parameters should be ad)usted before the purifier is started. <ut of those parameters1 very important parameters areE 1. 2. 3. 4. #. Feed inlet oil temperature Density of Oil RPM of the rotating bowl a!" Pressure $hroughput of oil feed

Understanding the Parameters

1. Feed inlet oil temperatureE ;efore entering the purifier1 the dirty oil passes through the heater. This increases the temperature1 thus reducing the viscosity of the oil to be purified. The lower the viscosity1 the better will be the purification. 3. .ensity of <ilE "s the dirty oil entering the purifier is heated to reduce the viscosity1 the density also reduces. The lower the density1 the better the separation.
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6. 0.P.B of the rotating bowlE If the purifier has not achieved full 0PB %revolutions per second&1 then the centrifugal force will not be sufficient enough to aid the separation. 4. ;ack PressureE The back pressure should be ad)usted after the purifier is started. The back pressure varies as the temperature1 density1 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. 7. Throughput of oil feedE Throughput means the $uantity of oil pumped into the purifier(hr. In order to optimi+e the purification1 the throughput must be minimum.

Pre-checks before starting a Purifier

;efore starting a Purifier1 following checks are very essentialE 1. If the Purifier is started after a overhaul1 then check all fittings are fiited in right manner. The bowl frame hood locked with hinges. 3. Check the <il level in the gear case. Ansure that it is exactly half in the sight glass. "lso ensure the sight glass is in vertical position1 as there is a common mistake of fixing it in hori+ontal position. 6. check the direction of rotation of the seperator1 by )ust starting and stopping the purifier motor. 4. Check whether the brake is in released position.

Starting the Purifier

1. Ansure the lines are set and respective valves are open. Dsually the lines are set from settling tank to service tank. 3. /tart the purifier feed pump with the 6-way re-circulation valve in a position leading to settling tank. 6. <pen the steam to the heater slightly ensuring the drains are open so that the condensate drains. close the drains once steam appears. 4. /tart the Purifier. 7. Check for vibrations1 check the gear case for noise and abnormal heating. =. Cote the current %amps& during starting. It goes high during starting and then when the purifier bowl picks-up speed and when it reaches the rated speed1 the current drawn drops to normal value. >. Ansure the feed inlet temperature has reached optimum temperature for separation as stated in the ;unker report and nomogram % bunker delivery note gives the density of the fuel and using this we can get the separation temperature and gravity disc si+e from the nomogram&

?. Cow 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. 5. Cow1 after the bowl reaching the rated 0PB1 check for the current attaining its normal value.

De-sludge Procedure
1 . <pen the bowl closing water(operating water1 which closes the bowl. %Ansure sufficient water is present in the operating water tank& 11. Cow after 1 seconds1 open the sealing water to the bowl. 13. The sealing water should be kept open till the water comes out of the waste water outlet. 16. <nce the water overflows through the waste water outlet1 stop the sealing water. 14. Cow open the de-sludge water(bowl opening water. %This is done to ensure the bowl has closed properly&. .uring de-sludge we can hear a characteristic sound at the opening of the bowl. 17. 0epeat the steps 1 1 11 113 F 16. 1=. <pen the 6-way re-circulation valve such that the dirty oil feed is fed into the purifier. 1>. #ait for the back pressure to build up. 1?. Check for overflowing of dirty-oil through waste water outlet F sludge port. 15. Cow ad)ust the throughput to a value specified in the manual. Correspondingly ad)ust the back pressure1 too. 3 . Cow the purifier is put into operation. Change over the clean-oil filling valve to service tank.

After-Checks and Stopping the Purifier

Checks after starting the purifier during regular watches: 1. "d)ust the throughput1 back pressure1 temperature of feed inlet if necessary 3. gear case oil level1 motor amps1 general leakages1 vibration have to be monitored 6. .e-sludge every 3 hours for heavy oil purifiers F every 4 hours for lubricating oil purifiers. %0refer to the manual or chief engineer instructions.& Stopping of Purifiers: 1. .e-sludge the purifier after stopping the feed inlet.

3. /hut down the steam inlet to the oil. 6. /top the purifier after filling up the bowl with water. 4. "pply brakes and bring up the purifier to complete rest. 7. If any emergency1 the purifiers has emergency stops1 on pressing it1 will stop the purifiers immediately shutting off the feed. Thus we have seen in detail how to start the purifier after carrying out all safety checks and we have also seen how to stop it.

Vertical and Horizontal Shaft Arrangement

'lide 1 of ( The purifier bowl is mounted upon the vertical shaft. The most important point is that the bowl is driven on a keyless taper secured by a lock nut on the vertical shaft. The vertical shaft is supported on the upper part by a bearing with six springs located in the radial direction that function to take up vibration in the hori+ontal direction. The lower end of the vertical shaft is supported by a ball bearing to take up the vertical thrust. The ball bearing on the lower end is usually of a double row angular contact type. ;etween the upper bearing and the lower bearing1 a worm gear is located on the vertical shaft. This worm gear is exactly in mesh with the worm wheel on the hori+ontal shaft. The hori+ontal shaft is supported on both the ends by simple ball bearings )ust to support and allow rotation. <ne end of the hori+ontal shaft has the friction block1 which also acts as a brake drum. <ther end may be a free or may have an attached feed pump.

Difference Between Separators " Clarifiers#

)ritten by* Raune"" + ,dited by* -amar 'tone!ypher Published .an 12/ 2010 /eparators and clarifiers are used for the same purpose - purification of fuel oil on ship. /o what is it that makes them as two separate e$uipmentsG @earn about the main dissimilarity that sets the two e$uipments apart.

Introduction
"n efficient combustion in marine engines re$uires a perfect $uality of fuel oil. The heavy oil used in engines is not of the purest form. The fuel oil is sent through a series of purifying e$uipments before it reaches the engine. /eparators(purifiers and clarifiers are two such e$uipments that are used for purifying and filtering the fuel oil of all the dissolved impurities. *owever1 if the separator and clarifier both perform the same function of cleansing the fuel oil1 what is the difference between themG @etHs find out.

hat is a Separator and a Clarifier!

;asically1 a clarifier is attached )ust after the purifier in the fuel line. #hile the main function of a purifier is to separate the dissolved water1 impurities and sludge from the fuel oil1 a clarifier removes any solid foreign material that is not removed from the oil after it passes through the purifier. Thus a clarifier is kind of a back up system for purifying fuel oil. *owever apart from these there are a few more prominent differences that set the two of them apart.
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"ain Differences
The main difference between a clarifier and a purifier is the presence of a dam ring in the latter. In a purifier1 the interface or the line of separation between the oil and water is created using a dam ring. The position of the dam ring plays an important role in the generation of interface and thus in the clarifying process. For example1 if the diameter of dam ring is large1 the interface moves out towards the periphery and as a result some oil is discharged with water from the water outlet. "lso1 if the diameter is small1 the interface formed will be more inwards and water will be discharged with the oil from the oil outlet. The diameter of holes in the dam rings also plays an important role in the creation of interface and purification process. If the diameter of the holes is more1 the interface is formed towards the periphery and oil globules are found with water and sludge. If the diameter is less the oil-water interface moves inwards and water is released with the clean oil discharged. *owever1 clarifiers do not have a dam ring but have a sealing ring which seals the water outlet. This prevents the impurities and water to remain inside the bowl unless they are discharged automatically or manually by opening the cleansing bowl. "lso1 the conical discs in a clarifier usually

donHt have feed holes in them but if they do1 then a disc without any holes is fitted at the bottom of the stack. "nother difference between a clarifier and purifier is that a purifier needs to be filled completely with water for the generation of a seal that prevents the oil to leave from the water outlet. #hereas a clarifier doesnHt needs to be filled up with water. Purifiers are used for filtering lubricating oil whereas clarifiers are not used for the same unless the oil is completely devoid of water.

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