ODME

Oil Discharge Monitoring Equipment (ODME)
Introduction
The Oil Discharge Monitoring and control system (ODMCS) is used for monitoring and
controlling the discharge of dirty ballast water or tank wash water overboard on oil tankers.
Regulation Summary
Certain areas such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Red Sea are
defined as special areas; no discharge of oil or oily mixture is permitted in such areas.
Oil tankers may discharge oily mixtures into the sea only when the following are satisfied:
 The tanker is not within a special area
 The tanker is more than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land
 The tanker is proceeding underway
 The instantaneous rate of discharge of oil does not exceed 30 liters per nautical mile
 The total quantity of oil discharge into the sea does not exceed, for existing tankers,
1/30,000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part.
 The tanker has in operation, an approved oil discharge monitoring and control system and
a slop tank arrangement.
Features of ODME:
The system shall provide a continuous record of the oil discharge in litres per nautical mile and
the total quantity of oil discharge in litres. The record shall be identifiable by time and date.
The monitor and control system shall come into operation when there is any discharge of effluent
into the sea and any discharge of oily mixture is automatically stopped when the rate of
discharge exceeds 30 litres/nmile. Failure of the monitoring and control system shall also stop
the discharge.
Unlike an OWS which can separate oil and water, the ODME cannot do any separation it is only
meant to monitor the discharged water for oil content and stop the discharge when instantaneous
discharge rate of oil is 30 ltrs/nmile
Oil Discharge Monitor consists of the following main components:

A) Main control unit or Calculating unit located in Cargo Control room
B) Zener barrier unit located in Engine room
C) Analyzing unit located in Pump room
Main Control Unit (Calculating unit)-Located in CCR

The main control unit (MCU) is the central part of the ODME system and is mounted in the
cargo control console. Its function is to compute and record:
 The instantaneous rate of discharged oil in litres per nautical mile
 The total quantity of oil discharged into the sea on each voyage
 To control the ship’s overboard discharge system as necessary to reduce the possibility of
discharging excessively oily water.
It receives the following input signals:
 Ship’s speed in knots
 Overboard valve position
 Oil content of ballast water in ppm
 Rate of discharge of ballast water in tonnes per hour
The data is displayed on an LCD display and is also printed on paper at 10 minute intervals.
Control of the MCU is through a keyboard. The MCU also displays a number of pages with
information according to the operator’s instructions. The various pages are designed to help the
operator to control the ODME system and to give a wide range of information.
Zener barrier unit- Located in ER

Intended to be installed in the engine room or equivalent safe area. The Zener barrier module
converts electrical control signals from the computer unit to pneumatic or electrical supply
signals for operation of the components that are a part of the ODME equipment. The Zener
barrier module contains electrical power supply and zener barriers for the analysing unit and for
up to two 4-20mA loop powered flow meters.
Analysing unit- Located in Pumproom

It is installed in the hazardous area/pump room. The analysing cabinet contains the oil content
measuring unit, a sample feed pump of shear type, a fresh water valve for cleaning purposes and
a pressure transmitter that monitors the discharge water flow rate. The flow of water through the
orifice plate causes a pressure difference across the plate. This differential pressure is converted
into a mA signal and transmitted to theZener barrier unit dP/I transmitter.
This compact design makes it possible to install the unit close to the sampling point, which
makes the sampling pipes distance between the sampling probes and the analysing cabinet as
short as possible.
Sample Probe Valve Assembly

For taking a representative sample of the ballast water to measure the oil level content a sample
probe valve assembly is provided. It comprises:
i) A probe, for penetration in the selected discharge line;
ii) A gate valve, for manual closure upon completion of monitoring;
iii) A pneumatic valve, for remote selection of the discharge line, so the line can be changed
whilst the monitor is in operation.
Principle of Operation
The measurement technique used in the oil discharge monitor is based on scattered light. The
sample of discharge water passes through a detector cell while light enters and leaves the
measurement area of the cell. The sample flow is at right angles to the optical path. When no
particles or oil droplets are present in the water, light can pass straight through the cell (direct
beam). When oil is present in the form of a homogeneous mixture, light is scattered at different
angles (scatter beam).The intensity of scattered light at a specific angle depends on the density of
oil droplets and upon their particle size relative to the wavelength of radiation. The intensity of
light of the direct beam decreases logarithmically with increasing oil concentration, while the
scatter beam increases linearly but passes through a maximum before decreasing logarithmically.
The maximum occurs because of the increase in attenuation blocking out the scattered light at
high concentrations. The amount of light reflected by oil droplets is quite different from that
reflected by solid contaminants and this fact can be used to obtain an accurate indication of oil
content whilst disregarding solid particles up to a point. To achieve this, a third detector is placed
in the detector cell to measure the reflected light intensity (reflect beam).
The light source used in the oil discharge monitor is a near infrared laser, which is operated in
the pulsed mode so that the average power dissipation is low, although the intensity is high.
The light is transmitted along a fibre optic cable from the laser transmitter located in the OPC, to
the detector cell. The light leaves the detector cell via three windows and along fibre optic cables
to the optical receivers. The signals from the direct and scatter detectors are used to compute the
oil concentration,whilst the reflected signal is used to compute other contaminant levels present
in the sample passing through the detector cell.
ODME print-out from one hour after the start of slop tank decanting per oil record book entry.

ODME

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Oil Discharge Monitoring Equipment (ODME)

Oil Discharge Monitor consists of the following main components:

Main Control Unit (Calculating unit)-Located in CCR

Zener barrier unit- Located in ER

Analysing unit- Located in Pumproom

Sample Probe Valve Assembly

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