What Are Centrifuges?
What Are Centrifuges?
What Are Centrifuges?
• THESE ARE THE DEVICES USED FOR SEPARATING IMPURITIES FROM FUEL OIL & LUBE OIL
• IMPURITIES CAN BE SOLID (ASH,METAL PARTICLE ETC) OR LIQUID (CHEMICALS & WATER)
3. WHAT IS INTERFACE?
• WHEN SEPARATION STARTS BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE, IT FORMS THREE ZONES I.E.
1. HEAVIER LIQUID/PARTICLE PHASE NEAR PERIPHERY OF BOWL
2. LIGHT LIQUID/CLEAN OIL PHASE NEAR CENTER OF THE BOWL. &
3. MIDDLE NEUTRAL PHASE .THIS GRADUALLY BECOMES LESS & EVENTUALLY FORMS THIN DIVIDING LINE
BETWEEN THE TWO ZONES .THIS DIVIDING LAYER IS CALLED INTERFACE OR E-LINE.
• THE POSITION OF INTERFACE DECIDES THE DEGREE OF PURIFICATION
• THE OPTIMUM POSITION OF INTERFACE IS BETWEEN EDGE OF DISC STACK & THE OUT SIDE EDGE OF THE TOP
DISC.
• POSITION OF INTERFACE CAN BE FIXED BY USING CORRECT SIZE OF GRAVITY DISC.
12. WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR WATER CARRIED AWAY WITH OIL?
1. GRAVITY DISC IS SMALLER.
2. INTERFACE WILL SHIFT INWARD
3. FEED RATE IS TOO HIGH
4. BOWL DISC IS DIRTY
5. THROUGHPUT IS TOO HIGH
16. WHAT ARE THE REASONS WHY HAVN’T GET ENOUGH RPM WHEN PURIFIER IS RUNNING?
1. Improper touching with friction clutch (worn out frictional clutch)
2. Touching with break
3. Excessive sludge in the bowl
4. Bearing failure
5. Motor running at overload
6. One phase power failure (Single phasing)
7. Sump oil level too high
8. Vertical shaft and horizontal shaft are out of alignment
23. WHAT ARE ALL TRIPS & ALARMS ARE PRESENT IN PURIFIER?
1. Back Pressure shutdown- this measures the discharge oil pressure and alarms and initiates a shut down when below a
set value.
2. Heavy phase overflow- Oil has a much higher viscosity than water. The heavy phase outlet is led to a small catchment
tank contain 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
3. Bowl not open- this may be done in several ways, typically by a lever switch operated by the discharged sludge hitting
a striker plate. The other method is by measuring the motor current, when the bowl opens the bowl speed is dragged
down due to friction effects of the discharging sludge and water. The motor current rises until full speed is re-
established. This is detected by a current sensing relay
4. Water in oil- This found on modern designs which have a detection probe mounted in the oil discharge
5. High temperature alarm and shut down
6. Low control/seal water pressure-Where control water is supplied via a fixed small header tanks a float switch may be
fitted.
Changes in refinery techniques are resulting in heavy fuel oils with increased density and usually
contaminated with catalytic fines. These are small particles of the catalysts used in the refining process.
They are extremely abrasive and must be removed from the fuel before it enters the engine. The generally
accepted maximum density limit for purifier operation is 991 kg/m3 at 15*C.
In the ALCAP separation system the separator has no gravity disc and operates, to some extent, as a
clarifier. Clean oil is discharged from the oil outlet and separated sludge and water collect at the periphery
of the bowl. When the separated water reaches the disc stack, some water will escape with the cleaned
oil. The increase in water content is sensed by a water-detecting transducer in the outlet .
The water transducer signal is fed to the MARST 1 microprocessor which will discharge the water when a
predetermined level is reached which is 0.2% above the reference value. The water will be discharged
from sludge ports in the bowl or, if the amount is large, from a water drain valve.
It can be used for oil whose specific gravity is more than 1.