Onboard ship, purifier are being use for separating sludge, water and other particles which maybe found in the fuel.

Purifier as part of engine auxiliaries are being handled either by 4th engineer and/or 3rd engineer(in absent of 4th engineer) who will benefit from this topic “Purifier Five Main Common Faults”.

The above listed engine officers are only helper to the other two top officers ( chief engineer and second engineer). In case of difficulties which the junior officers may face , second or chief engineer are there to help assist them.

Know more about Merchant marine or merchant navy ranks and duties 

By now I hope you might have understand the basic purpose of purifier onboard ship and who’s responsibility as per the ISM ( International Safety Management) code.

Main Objective

The main objective of this article, is to explain more things you need to understand about the common faults your purifier may encounter. We are going to use the most popularly use purifier ” Alfa Laval” as a case study. Therefore follow the list below very carefully, one of the problems may help you in resolving issues on your purifier;

• V-Belt

the belt which drive the purifier became slack, your purifier RPM may not reach as required. This normal occur when the water fills the bowel. Therefore if you have tripping before second water close, check your belt and adjust it.

• Water orifice

These are water passages which has being already calculated, if the amount of water passages are less than required, then it will not fill up the bowel or the area required to be fill up. Therefore, it will cause the purifier to trip due to the water sensor time delay. It’s recommended that you clean the orifice properly as per there numbers.

• Faulty bearings

It’s always advisable that you know more about your machinery behaviors, sounds, and vibrations. Most of the engineers onboard ship do not have the skills of understanding the behavior of their machinery. To become best in the field of engineering, you most understand and have the skills mentioned above. The above can help you to find out when your bearings are out of order.

• Faulty O-rings

Do to the pressure and change of temperature, the O-rings become weak, less in size and/or cut off. This can also lead to water leak, therefore will not allow the purifier to operate normal.

• Bad or dirty water filter

when your water filters got chucked, water passage will be difficult. This will lead to less pressure and cause the bowel water supply not on time. Always clean your filters.

• Faulty air or water Solenoid valves

Sometimes you may face tripping with some error codes, but will not understand where the faulty comes from. Trust me, your solenoid valve can go automatic faulty after you stop you purifier. Try to remove and operate locally to check the water or air flow.

Recommended services maintain for your purifier to work well.

To keep your purifier in a working condition,I recommend you to always clean, monitor, understand the behaviours and check your V-belt(if in use) condition routinely.

Always follow the manual recommended process because those process has been tested and confirmed before they are recommend.

Also note that the above listed dualities can help in your fault finding. Always check the manufacturers Golding book (manual) for more.

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