TURBULO Oily Water Separator

This is another oily water separator onboard one of my ship. This is TURBULO Separator, Type TPC 0.25H. TPC (TURBULO Permanent Compact) System is developed by Blohm + Voss, a company based in Hamburg, Germany who has many years of experience in the field of oil separators and plant engineering. I believe Blohm + Voss had merged with another company to produce seals as well.

The special features of the TURBULO TPC systems are as follows:

§ Oil content in the effluent well below 15ppm

§ High level of operating reliability

§ Simple installation and maintenance

§ No filter elements, no moving parts except pump

§ Fully automatic operation

The TURBULO Separator is designed as a gravity separator in which oil is separated in two stages from the bilge and ballast water, utilizing the different specific gravities. The oil/water mixture is pumped into the first stage through the inlet socket, where a preliminary de-oiling takes place.

Following this initial de-oiling in the first stage, the oil/water mixture passes through the second stage, which is filled with a special coalescing material for final de-oiling. The separated oil which had risen in the first stage is discharged from the separator through the oil outlet.

2 way valve is on the left and 3 way valve on the right

A compressed air actuated 2/2 way valve on the outlet is controlled by an automatic oil drain system via a solenoid valve regulates the oil discharge

The coalescing material is corrosion resistant, is oelophilic and has a large free volume. This prevents clogging of the material.

Maintenance necessary on the system is limited to emptying the system when there is danger of frost. The separator must be cleaned as required, depending on the degree of pollution. For this purpose, the pump is switched off, the oil in the separator dome is discharged by opening the oil discharge valve manually.

During intermediate IOPP survey for the operating condition of the internal parts, the cover is removed from the filling opening. The nets containing the separating materials can then be removed.

The system is equipped with 15ppm bilge alarm monitor OCD-1 for continuous monitoring of the oil content in discharge water. The unit is equipped with a digital indicator. A water sample is taken continuously from the water discharge line and led to the unit. If the 15ppm limit stipulated by the IMO is exceeded, the alarm is displayed optically on the unit display panel and simultaneously the alarm relays activated. The alarm relay will employed for both remote alarm and 3-way diverting valve operation/system shut down

The 15ppm alarm is the unit most likely to break down as it consists of electronics and circuit board. The electronic parts and circuit board are likely to fail after certain years due to wear and tear. The 3 ways valve is also another part likely to fail after times. It is always essential to get the spares ready.