Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4 General
4 Historical Data
6 Product Evolution
8 System Components
9 The Pump
9 The Heater
Vessels can use a variety of bilge water collection systems such as:
yy Waste oil collection tanks partitioned by baffles into oily and clean sides
yy Waste oil collection tanks without partitioning where gravity separation of oil occurs
The water phase of the separated bilge water is usually pumped overboard as necessary, regardless of the distance
from shore. The lower portion of the liquid in the oily water tank can be pumped overboard outside of 50 nautical
miles (nmi) from shore.
In the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster, the Oil Pollution Act amended the Clean Water Act to prevent oil dumping by
ships. Oil discharge within 12 nmi from shore must leave no “visible sheen” and measure less than 15 parts per mil-
lion (ppm). Beyond 12 nmi from shore, ships may release oily waste that measures less than 100 ppm. The remaining
oily waste must be retained on board and disposed of at a shore-based facility. Ships must also record the disposal
of oily residues and bilge water.
Historical Data
The following quantities of bilge water were taken from a report by the U.S. Navy Station at Pearl Harbor. They give an
indication of annual quantities of bilge water generated by two types of vessels.
Table 1
Vessel Type 1 31,500 gallons (gal.) (119,240 liters (L)) to on-shore facilities
Table 2
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The total bilge water discharged by two vessels within the 12 nmi zone was 80,540 gal. (304,877 L).
Assuming that this discharge had an oil concentration of 15 milligrams per liter (mg/L), which is allowable, then the
total amount of oil discharged into the oceans was 304,870 L x 15 mg/L = 4,573,045 mg or 4,573 kilograms (kg) of oil
or assuming approximately 3 kg/gal. and 42 gal./barrel or 129 kg/barrel this is equivalent to 109 barrels of oil.
If it is assumed that the amount discharged outside 12 nmi was 800,200 gal. (3,029,013 L) with an oil concentra-
tion of 100 mg/L (allowable), then the total amount of oil discharge into the oceans was 3,029,013 L x 100 mg/L =
302,901,300 mg or 302,901 kg of oil or approximately 2,404 barrels of oil.
Bilge water sloshes with the constant motion of the ship. This creates an extremely tight emulsion layer (see figure
1) which floats on top of the water phase. The emulsion consists of a mixture of oil, solids, and water (sea or fresh).
The emulsion layer also holds a considerable amount of fine solids. The water phase contains suspended solids and
the bilge tank bottom consists of settled solids, sludge, and microorganisms. In the emulsion layer oil droplets are
stabilized by the solids that surround them as is shown in figure 2.
Water
Solid Particle
Oil
The stable interfacial film which keeps the oil droplets from coalescing is achieved by the densely packed solids in
the oil-water interface as is shown in figure 3.
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Figure 3: Solids Film Around an Oil Droplet
Water
Oil
Solid Particles
Product Evolution
The Allen Bilge Water Treatment System (BWTS) has evolved from the Allen Hydroscav Oil Purifier, which has been
in production for over two decades. The Hydroscav is used world wide in the oil and gas industry for purifying and
reusing rotating equipment lubrication oils. It does so by continuously separating water from oil, evaporating the
water, and recovering the dehydrated oil for reuse.
The BWTS is a variation that is designed to handle heavily contaminated oil emulsions and large amounts of water
with the advantage that it produces no liquid discharge; the water is evaporated and discharged into the atmosphere.
A general assembly of a typical BWTS is shown in figure 4.
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Figure 4: The General Assembly of a Bilge Water Treatment System
The BWTS separates the water phase from the oil phase while straining out the solids. The water is evaporated into
the atmosphere resulting in a zero liquid discharge. The oil phase is recovered and disposed of in an on-shore facility.
It can be sold for burner fuel or further refined. Figure 5 shows a schematic flow diagram of the BWTS system.
The system pumps contents of the bilge tank via a positive displacement gear pump through a self-cleaning auto-
matic strainer, which removes solids larger than 100 microns. The fluid is then heated by an immersion heater to a
minimum of 250°F (121°C) after which it is pumped through an Aero-Jet Mixer. In the Aero-Jet Mixer the fluid is forced
through a narrow orifice with high energy and speed. The oil-water emulsion is sheared by the high-energy input.
Atmospheric air, which is drawn in by the Aero-Jet Mixer, is heated by the hot fluid and thoroughly mixed with it. In
the subsequent Separator Vessel, the water flashes off as steam while the waste oil is pumped from the bottom of the
vessel back to the bilge tank. Repeated circulation through the BWTS will evaporate the water leaving the waste oil to
be disposed of later in an on-shore facility. By continuously evaporating the water phase of the bilge emulsion while
the ship is at sea, the bilge volume is greatly reduced until only the oil phase remains.
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Figure 5: Flow Diagram of Bilge Water Treatment
Bilge Water
Strainer Heater Gear Pump Aero-Jet Mixer Separator Vessel
Compartment
Waste Solids
System Components
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Figure 6: Inline Automatic Self-Cleaning Strainer
The Pump
The pump is an electric motor-driven gear pump. This type of pump is very reliable and the gears can process a cer-
tain amount of solids without damage. The pump has an internal relief valve to prevent over-pressuring the system.
A return relief line back to the bilge water compartment can also be provided.
The Heater
The heater is a multi-element immersion heater, which is encased in stainless steel and filled with a thermal fluid.
This prevents the heating elements from coming in direct contact with the corrosive sea water. When calcium depos-
its accumulate on the outside of the thermal fluid casing, it can easily be removed, cleaned, or replaced. The heater is
controlled by a high temperature shut-off as well as by a programmable logic controller in the control panel.
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Figure 8 shows the insulated heater with the heating elements encased in a removable canister.
Heating Elements
In Out
Process Oil
The pressurized, heated mixture is depressurized in the Separator Vessel where the water flashes off as steam to be
vented to the atmosphere and the waste oil is returned to the bilge water compartment.
The water phase of the bilge is thus continuously removed while the oil phase is returned to the bilge tank for sub-
sequent on-shore disposal.
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Figure 9: A Schematic of the Aero-Jet Mixer
Jet nozzle in which oil is Air is drawn in by the Secondary mixing area where there is
injected at a high velocity vacuum effect created by a gradual decay of turbulence
and laminar flow the oil jet moving towards final separation
Primary spiral flow pattern mixing area Point of tangential injection into the
where extreme turbulence creates an separator vessel for final separation
intimate mixing of oil, water, and gases of oil and water-gas vapor
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