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3 Summary
Benefits for designers of ships and power plants
Benefits for owners and operators
10 Equipment
System components
14 Flow chart
16 Retrofitting
16 Documentation
16 Classification
16 Spare parts, service and support
The Alfa Laval MSPX treatment system
Summary
Waste oil and sludge must be treated in order to decrease waste volumes.
Separating waste oil and sludge into their basic constituents – oil, water and
solids – is essential for cost-effective processing and disposal.
The MSPX treatment system from Alfa Laval is a highly Benefits for owners and operators
effective centrifuge system for the treatment of waste oil • Substantial savings in total waste oil and sludge
and sludge from diesel engine installations. The system handling cost.
generally separates waste oil and sludge into three phases:
• Excellent pretreatment of water prior to discharge to
• water with less than one percent oil; the bilge water tank.
• oil containing less than 10 percent water; and, • Maximum recovery of oil for disposal in the incinerator
boiler or in the standard boiler.
• concentrated sludge that consists of particles and water
for disposal. • Minimum accumulation of sludge in the bowl, which
ensures long intervals between service.
The addition of an optional chemical dosing unit to the
system further improves separation results. • Single stage operation.
Treatment methods must meet the individual requirements Centrifugal separation has proven to be a reliable,
of a particular diesel engine installation as well as the effective method for the continuous removal of water and
demands for safety, reliability, compactness and automation solids from waste oil and the removal of oil and reduction
that are prevalent among shipowners and power station of water from sludge produced on board ships and at
operators. land-based power plants.
Technical support
All spare parts, service and sales engineers are available
through the Alfa Laval International Service Network.
Separators
Filters
Drains, etc
MSPX Recovered oil
Incinerator/
treatment system Ashore
Concentrated
sludge
Intermediate
sludge tank
Reducing waste oil, also referred to as slop oil, and sludge system processes oily waste and produces concentrated
volumes by means of centrifugal separation drastically cuts sludge, which are the solids remaining after treatment
disposal costs. This is a major concern for the shipping and together with operating water.
power generation industries as waste disposal costs continue
to rise.
Waste oil and sludge handling
Waste oil and sludge handling poses distinct challenges.
What is waste oil? Poor waste oil and sludge settling is often a problem caused
Waste oil refers to any used products primarily derived from by positioning the main waste oil/sludge tank in the double
petroleum, which include, but are not limited to, fuel oils, hull structure at the bottom of a ship, or in some other loca-
motor oils, gear oils, cutting oils, transmission fluids and tion that is unsuitable for gravitational settling.
hydraulic fluids. The waste oil tank draws upon many different
engine areas to collect and store the used oil, along with Another waste oil and sludge handling challenge is the fact
considerable amounts of water. that combining water, oil and sludge from various sources
can cause the formation of stable emulsions. For instance, if
waste products from treating lube oil and fuel oil are collected
What is sludge? in the same tanks, the risk of the formation of emulsions
Sludge generally is a mixture of water, oil and solids that increases. This risk is even greater when cleaning solvents
results from the operation of diesel engines. This by-product and detergents are flushed into the same tank.
of various engine room activities collects in a ship’s sludge
tanks and usually includes water, oil, inorganic solids and To ensure proper handling, the use of high narrow tanks,
organic solids including precipitated heavy oil compounds. rather than wide shallow tanks, is recommended to create
good conditions for gravitational settling, which is a primary
Oil that ends up in the sludge tanks can include fuel and lube means of separation. Here oil rises to the top and particles
oil from self-cleaning separators and filters, waste hydraulic oil settle on the tank bottom, generally dividing the tank contents
and oil from all kinds of leakages. Solvents and detergents into three distinct layers:
from cleaning may also collect in sludge tanks.
Top layer.
The term sludge refers to what remains after self-cleaning This contains mainly oil contaminated by water and solids.
separators clean fuel oil and lube oil. This typically amounts
to between 0.5 and 1.5 percent of the total volume of fuel oil Middle layer.
treated and a slightly lower volume of the lube oil treated. This aqueous phase consists of water polluted by oil, chemi-
Sludge typically consists of more than 90 percent water, five cals and particles in emulsified form.
percent oil and five percent solids, but often less.
Bottom layer.
This contains solids and heavy sludge, which may be
What is oily waste? disposed of at the convenience of a shipowner or plant
For the purposes of this document, waste oil and sludge operator.
together are referred to as oily waste. The MSPX treatment
Tank overflows
FO LO
purifiers purifiers
Bilge water
separator
Intermediate Recovered
sludge tank oil tank
FO sludge LO sludge
tank tank
Cleaning and
maintenance
Drains and
leaks
Over
board
The volume of waste oil and sludge generated can be greatly Increasing the droplet size helps facilitate separation.
reduced by means of dewatering and de-oiling in a centrifugal However, the presence of surfactants, such as detergents,
separation system. Water that is separated during the treat- soaps and other surface-active compounds, may contribute
ment process is usually directed to the ship’s bilge water to stabilization of small droplets. Stable emulsions are difficult
tanks for further processing and, once cleaned to meet IMO to break down, but the high g-force in a centrifugal separator
regulations, discharged overboard. efficiently handles even the most stable emulsions.
Oil that is separated during the treatment process is generally There are different mechanisms for emulsion and suspension
stored in a tank until pumped ashore for further processing destabilization and breakdown, including coalescence and
and disposal or, in some cases, disposed of in the ship incin- flocculation.
erators or used in the ship boiler. The latter, however, is not
an option for many shipowners and operators because doing Coalescence is a process where two or more droplets collide,
so causes the formation of deposits in the incinerator/boiler, resulting in the formation of a larger droplet.
which require frequent and labour-intensive cleaning.
• The high centrifugal force generated in a high-speed
centrifugal separator greatly contributes to the coalescence
Emulsions and suspensions of small droplets.
By definition, an emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible
liquids. An oil-in-water emulsion consists of small oil droplets • Elevated temperature accelerates the rate of coalescence
dispersed in a continuous water phase. A water-in-oil by increasing the probability of the droplets colliding and by
emulsion is an inverse emulsion, where droplets of water are decreasing the viscosity of the continuous phase.
dispersed in a continuous phase of oil. A suspension is a
mixture in which solid particles are dispersed in the con- Flocculation is a process by which two or more particles
tinuous water or oil phase. unite without losing their individual identities, forming larger
aggregates or clusters.
Emulsions can form under agitation, such as during pumping
or throttling in the valves. The emulsions droplets generally • The high centrifugal force generated in a high-speed
coalesce, or combine, into larger droplets because of their centrifugal separator greatly contributes to the flocculation
insolubility. of small particles.
Operating principle dosing unit is standard; for systems with flow rates of 225
A positive displacement feed pump that operates at a con- litres per hour, it is optional.
stant flow directs unprocessed oily waste from the sludge
tanks to the system. The pump provides a feed range of The process liquid then passes through a duplex strainer,
225 or 500 litres per hour. which traps large particles, into a pre-heater. For optimum
separation efficiency, the heater raises the temperature of
To enhance performance in the presence of stable the unprocessed liquid to the desired feed temperature
emulsions, a chemical dosing unit is available. The unit of 95°C.
can be connected before the pumping stage in order to mix
Alpacon MP 205 chemicals directly into the feed. The unit A three-way changeover valve directs the oily waste to the
is connected to a control unit for fully automatic operation. separation stage if all process conditions, such as feed
For systems with a flow rate of 500 litres per hour, the temperature and feed pressure are met. During an alarm
3
11
Recirculation 10
to sludge tank
From
sludge
tank
9
12
1
situation, loss of operating pressure, power failure or when system is required. This is the case in multiple diesel engine
any preset condition is not met, the valve re-circulates the installations, such as those in power plants. Calculations
fluid back to the sludge tank(s). based upon the estimated sludge production for a particular
installation will determine the number of MSPX systems that
A high-speed centrifugal separator continuously processes are required to provide adequate coverage.
oily waste, reducing sludge volumes by recovering oil and
removing water from the waste.
Separation efficiency
An oil paring disc, which is part of the separator bowl, Test results presented in the table below show the typical
continuously discharges recovered oil from the separator qualities of the oil and water separated from sludge using the
through the oil outlet. MSPX treatment system. Low oil content in water is easy to
achieve, whereas producing oil that is sufficiently dry may be
Concentrated solids accumulate at the periphery of the more difficult. This is often due to water-in-oil emulsions,
separator bowl and are discharged intermittently through which form as a result of mixing lube oil, fuel oil and different
the discharge ports. Discharge occurs at preset intervals chemicals.
of time to reduce the sludge volume present in the bowl.
The reduced volumes of concentrated sludge can then be
processed further on board or stored for onshore disposal.
Capacity
The throughput capacity of the MSPX treatment system
is 225 or 500 litres per hour, depending on whether the
chemical dosing unit is used.
2500
If the total diesel engine output required for an installation Measurements in mm.
exceeds 50,000 kW, then more than one MSPX treatment
Equipment
Environmental protection requires reliability. This is how Alfa Laval meets the
waste oil and sludge treatment challenge.
Duplex strainer Separated water flows freely over the top disc rather than
To trap large particles suspended in the unprocessed liquid having to pass through the long, narrow vertical channel
that may cause unnecessary operational disturbances, a outside a separate oil paring chamber. Separated oil is
duplex strainer is installed as a safety measure after the discharged through the oil outlet. This greatly reduces the
pump to protect the pump from dry running. risk of solids clogging the water outlet.
Heat exchanger Unique separator bowl and disc stack design. Fluid dynamics
A HEATPAC EHM electric heater, or a shell-and-tube heater studies have been extensively used in the design to ensure
that uses steam, thermal oil or hot water as the heating the best possible flow patterns in the bowl. This is especially
medium, preheats the unprocessed liquid to 95°C. true in the case of the disc stack, which has been optimized
to provide high separation characteristics and to help keep
Centrifugal separator the bowl free from sludge deposits.
The MSPX high-speed centrifuge is designed for continuous,
high-efficiency separation of large volumes of oily waste. Separate outlets for oil, water and solids. The MSPX sepa-
It simultaneously separates oil, water and solids from sludge rator has three individual outlets: the oil outlet, the water
of varying composition and density without adjustment at outlet and the concentrated sludge outlet.
throughput capacities of 225 or 500 litres per hour.
Three-way changeover valve
The MSPX separator is optimized to treat oily waste, thanks A pneumatically activated three-way changeover valve directs
to several unique design features: oily waste to the separation stage for treatment or re-circu-
lates process liquid that does not meet pre-set conditions
Integral paring disc pumps for continuous discharge of back to the sludge tanks.
separated oil and water. The MSPX separator has an oil-
paring disc and a water-paring disc that are incorporated When any preset condition is not met or during an alarm
into the separator bowl. situation, loss of operating air pressure or power failure, the
three-way changeover valve automatically shifts to recircula-
The disc stack has two sections: the lower part, which acts tion mode.
as a clarifier stage removing solids, and the upper part, which
acts as a concentrator stage. Dividing the disc stack into
these two sections optimises separation.
4 4 4 4
MSPX bowl with free water flow between the top disc and the A conventional separator bowl, showing the vertical water channel where
bowl hood. solids will deposit when waste oil/sludge is treated.
Control cabinet
Centrally located to monitor all MSPX functions, the control
cabinet has two separate compartments. The lower compart-
ment contains all electric power functions, such as a multi-
transformer for power supplies in the range of 230 to 690 V,
all motor starters, pump unit speed control, power supply for
the optional chemical dosing unit and all pneumatic control
devices. The upper compartment contains the Alfa Laval Process controller EPC 41.
EPC 41 process controller and operator panels.
Process controller
The EPC 41 process controller provides fully automated
advanced monitoring and control of all MSPX functions.
The process controller has several built-in self-cure functions
that automatically activate to ensure continuous operation
should a system problem occur. A proportional integral (PI)
temperature controller accurately maintains the temperature
set point for separation within ±1°C, even under variable
feed conditions.
Alpacon MP 205.
The table shows examples of MSPX separation results with, and without, the use of Alpacon MP 205.
Flow chart
Sludge/waste oil tank Feed pump with electric motor Heater
Enables oil to accumulate at the Transfers oily waste to the heater. Raises temperature of the feed to
top, oily water in the middle of the the required treatment temperature.
tank, and sludge at the bottom of Pressure switches
the tank. Measures the pressure in the inlet Temperature transmitters
and outlet and signals the process Measures the temperature of the
Chemical dosing unit controller. liquid from the heater and signals
(Optional for 225 l/h flow rate) the process controller.
Enhances separation efficiency Duplex strainer
by adding Alpacon MP 205 to Traps large particles from the feed
the feed. before it enters the heater.
Recycling to tank
Priming
water
PS PS
Feed inlet
Concentrated
sludge outlet
Three-way valve
Intermediate sludge tank with Starter for dosing unit (optional)
Directs the feed from the heater to sludge pump (optional) Starts flow of chemicals into the
the separation stage. Temporarily stores concentrated feed.
sludge for waste processing on
MSPX high-speed separator shore. EPC 41 control unit
Continuously separates oily waste Provides monitoring control
into oil, water and solids. functions.
Water Oil
outlet outlet
TT TT
Retrofitting Documentation
The MSPX treatment system for waste oil and Alfa Laval supplies each MSPX treatment system with
sludge is ideal for replacing older treatment systems. full documentation either as paper copies and/or as
Its compact size easily fits into any available space. PDF (Portable Document Format) files on a CD-ROM.
To facilitate transport on board, the MSPX can be The instruction manual, which can also be made
divided into these parts: available in most major languages, covers:
Any comments regarding possible errors and omissions or suggestions for improvement
of this publication would be gratefully appreciated.
Copies of this publication can be ordered from your local Alfa Laval company.
www.fotoskrift.se
foodstuff, starch and pharmaceuticals.
ALFA LAVAL is a trademark registered and owned by Alfa Laval Corporate AB.
Alfa Laval reserves the right to change specifications without prior notification.
Heatpac and Alpacon are trademarks owned by Alfa Laval Corporate AB.
EMD00085EN 0602