BILGE SYSTEM

Drainage system in the event of:

• Flooding in compartments due to
grounding/collision (Main function)
• To drain water due to water-splash over
hatches (rain, bad weather, etc.)
• Leaks on welding roots
• Condensation on side shell
• Leaks on piping systems (particularly in
E/R)

TYPES OF BILGE SYSTEMS

1. Bilge System in Compartments
(Clean Bilge System):

As General Service System.

Referring to Class’ Rules

Directly discharged
onboard

Including that of in E/R and
pump room
2. Bilge System in Cargo Tanks of
a Tanker:

By means of existing Cargo
pump.

OWS need to be provided
on O/B (marpol regulation).

Can also be using
independent pumps
3. Bilge System in ER & of a
Tanker’s Cargo Pump Room (Oily
Bilge System):

To drain leaks in ER
(discarges, leaks on joints of
piping, pumps, flanges etc.)

Shall be equipped with OWS
before discharging to O/B
(Marpol reglt’n max 15 ppm
oil content)

Separate systems from Main
Bilge System.

Dimensions of pipes and
pump: by design not by rules

For drainage in ER due to
flooding, the bilge system is
using Main Bilge Pump

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 BILGE SYSTEM’S COMPONEN
MAIN BILGE SYST OILY BILGE SYSTEM
(CLEAN BILGE SYST) (E/R BILGE SYSTEM)
1. Suction Well 1. Suction Well
2. Branch pipes 2. Suction pipes
3. Main pipes 3. Oily Bilge Pump
4. Valves and fittings 4. Oily Bilge Tank
5. Bilge Pumps 5. OWS & OWS pump
6. Overboard 6. OCM / ODM (oil content
monitor / oil discharge
monitor)
7. Sludge tank
8. Overboard

LAYOUT OF BILGE LINES

 Shall be able to pump out the flooding in any conditions
(pay attention on the trim condition  hence location of the
pumps as lowest as possible on the double bottom/ tank
top)
 Bilge suction shall be provided at ps & sb (aft of
compartment), except at fore & aft –end of the ship (one
suction only).
 Compartment in front of FP and after AP not to be
connected with bilge lines
 Diameter and thickness of bilge pipes shall refer to Class
Rules
 Bilge lines are NOT to pass through tanks containing: LO,
thermal oil, drinking water, and feed-water.
 If bilge lines (that no other option) have to pass through FO
tanks, then a Non-return valve must be provided on the
lines entering the FO tanks

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SUCTION WELLS
 Min 2 units (ps & stb) at aft of compartments,
except at fore and aft of vessel 1 well
 for L comp > 30 m min 3 wells
 Volume of well < 0,57 m3, and H < 0,5 H d/b
 Detachable and Corrosion-proof
 In E/R :
 wells for ships’ flooding and for containing leaks form
piping systems (oily-water bilge system)
 suction well shall be directly connected (direct suction)
with suction lines of Main Bilge Pumps, or Independent
Bilge Pump (emergency bilge pump), or Cooling Water
Pump (provided with emergency valve )

Suction Well
in Cargo Hold

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 BILGE PIPES
• Material: Steel Pipe Galvanized with regard
to BKI vol V (see Class-rules for material)
sect 4.
• Thickness: category M or D if passing
through ballast tank / no. schedule 80 or 120
(tabel 11.5 BKI vol III sect 11).
• Pipe joints: butt-weld or flanges (table 11.11
dan 11.12 BKI vol III sect 11).
• Class’ Surveyors are to examine the pipes if
no certificates provided.

DIMENSION OF BILGE PIPES

• Inside Diameter of Main Pipe:
For dry cargo: 1.68 [(B+H)Lpp] 1/2 +25 [mm]
for Tanker: 3.0 [(B+H)Lc]1/2 +35 [mm]
(for tanker: Lc = length of ER from pump-room b’hd to AP
b’hd)
• Inside Diameter of Branch Pipes:
2.15 [(B+H)L comp]1/2 +25 [mm]
• Minimum Diameter: 50 mm (main and branch)
• Maximum Diameter: 200 mm

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 BILGE PUMPS
• Q min =
5.75 x 10 (D main-pipe)^2 [m3/h]
• Tot Head = Hz + Hp + Hv + tot H-loss
– Hz = Elevation of well to o/b = (T+0.75m)
– Hp = (Pdisch– Psuct)/ρg
– Hv = (V2disch– V2suct)/2g ~ 0
– Tot H-loss = Total Head-loss calculated on
the longest line

BILGE PUMPS
• Centrifugal pumps (self priming and electrically
driven) preferably Vertical types (space
constrain)
• Min 2 units (for cargo) dan 3 units (for passenger
vessel)
• The difference between Q pump no.1 and no.2
shall be within 85% and provided that Q of the
smaller pump > Q min
• Location: in E/R on d/b and fore of E/R
• Pay attention on NPSH of the pump (refer to
pump’s spec)

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BilgeBilge
pipespipes
on tank
on tank
top top

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7
GENERAL
SERVICE
PUMP

Bilge
Valves Ba
Va llas
lv t
es

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 Bilge System

Contoh Cargo Hold Bilge System

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Bilge Pipe Arrangement

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 OILY BILGE SYSTEM
• To manage all leaks in ER and Pump Room (for
Tanker) to safely discharge to O/B.
• Oily-water leaks in E/R: SW lines, Cooling
systems, LO, FO, Sanitary, Sewage, etc.
• Marpol Regulation: max oil content to be
discharged to O/B is 15 ppm (new amendment:
10 ppm).
• Pipe size: by design (approx. max 5% of fluids in
ER are leaking)
• Must be provided with OWS (Oily Water
Separator) including OCM (Oil Content Monitor)

OILY-BILGE SYST COMPONENTS (1)

1. E/R BILGE WELL
 To contain leaks of oily-water
 Placed on lowest floor and aft of E/R
 Can be as Oily-Bilge Tank with opened cover
2. BILGE SUCTION:
 Provided with Bell-mouth and Deck-Stem Valve (operable
from ER grating floor)
3. OILY BILGE PUMP:
 To pump oily-bilge from Oily-wells to Bilge Holding Tank
 Gear or Screw Pump.
4. OILY WATER SEPARATOR (OWS):
 Type: Reverse Osmosis (RO) or Centrifuge,
 Equipped with OWS pump (separate supplied or attached).
5. OCM (Oil Content Monitor):
 Shall be able to display Oil content (ppm).
 Equipped with Automatic Switched Valve to O/B.

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 OILY-BILGE SYST COMPONENTS (2)
6. OILY BILGE TANK (BILGE HOLDING TANK)
– To temporarily contain oily-water from ER bilge-wells before
processed through OWS
– To contain the discharge from OWS in case the OWS discharge does
not comply 10 ppm oil content
– Shall enable re-circulation back from OWS to OWS.
7. SLUDGE TANK:
– To contain sludge from OWS.
– Shall be provided with High Level Alarm
– Connected to Int’l Shore-Connection for discharging, by means of
Sludge pp or existing Oily bilge pump
8. INT’L SHORE CONNECTION:
– For discharging connection to shore
– Shall be provided with International standard of flange (ref to
marpol)
9. INCINERATOR (optional):
– Provided only for long route (to anticipate limited capacity of
sludge tank)
– The excess capacity of sludge will be burned by means of
incinerator

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 Overboard Automatic actuated valve to
discharge control discharge of oily-water
(max 15 ppm to open)

Pneumatic lines for o/b discharge

control valve
Oily o/b discharge control

VERIFICATION ON BILGE SYSTEM (1)

1. Components involved:
– Bilge pumps: 2 units, centrifugal, electrically driven,
with sufficient capacity [m3/hr] and pressure [bar] or
[kg/cm2] or [mHead]  referred to Class requirement
calculation .
– Valves:
• SDNRV (Class matter) with manually operated or remotely
operated for suction and o/b
• BIDIRECTIONAL VALVES (Gate or Butterfly) for
interconnection between 2 pumps, interchanging flow
direction etc,
– Pipes: Steel Galvanized pipes with
• sufficient size [inch or mm], and
• at least Class III pipes (Class matter) or schedule of at least
no. 40
• Preferably class II pipes (or sch 80)

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 VERIFICATION ON BILGE SYSTEM (2)
2. Scenario for flow lines: Check flow lines for:
a. If Using branch pipes ps & sb (Manually Operated).
Shall be able to drainage each of ps and sb bilge wells
» Using bilge pump no. 1  o/b
» Using bilge pump no. 2  o/b
b. If Using ring type (Remotely operated)
• Check all lines shall be able to pump out using:
» Bilge pump no.1 and /or Bilge pump no. 2
• Check all valves in tanks to be equipped with actuators:
» Pneumatic or hydraulic means
» Are valves normally closed or normally opened type

3. Emergency Bilge Lines:

make sure that in E/R there is a line which directly connected
to suction side of Bilge Pumps.

VERIFICATION ON BILGE SYSTEM (3)

4. Oily-Water Bilge System
a. Check on Flow lines scenario:
• E/R bilge wells  oily-water Bilge Pump  OWS pump (attached
or separated to OWS)  OWS  Oil Content Monitor (OCM) 
o/b.
b. Check on Discharging scenarios:
• Mechanism for oil content monitor out of OWS (IMO regulation for
15 ppm max  more than 15 ppm, OCM mechanism shall
automatically shut-off the o/b discharge and directing the flow ti
Bilge Holding Tank
• OWS pump:
– attached or separate (if separate, check capacity and pressure of the
pump)
– Suction from Bilge Holding tank
• Discharge lines from OWS:
– o/b discharge with OCM
– Dishcharge to Bilge Holding tank  for >15 ppm oil content
– Disharge of sludge from OWS to Sludge Tank or Dirty oil Tank
• Shore Connection for discharging sludge from reception tanks 
shall using Marpol standard flange connection.
• Necessity for utilizing Incinerator or Sludge tank

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 VERIFICATION ON BILGE SYSTEM (4)

5. Possibility of using other system’s pumps (GS

pumps: Fire-main, Ballast, or cooling)
– Check whether flow lines work properly on using 2
pumps, i.e: Bilge main pump and other system’s
pump (fire or ballast).
– Check on diagram (if two systems drawn
separately): is there any lines showing from / to
other system (fire or ballast).
– Check on pumps: capacity and pressure / head of
the both pumps shall not less than 85% to each
other (Class requirement)

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