Question 47 QMED05 - Machinist-Pump Technician

The Correct Answer is B **Why Option B is Correct:** An engine room bilge oily-water separator (OWS) is specifically designed to treat the effluent accumulated in the ship's bilges. This bilge water is primarily seawater or freshwater that has become contaminated with small quantities of oil (fuel, lube oil, hydraulic fluid) that leak or spill during normal machinery operations. The core function of the OWS is to ensure that the water discharged overboard meets strict international environmental regulations (MARPOL Annex I), which typically limit the oil content to 15 parts per million (ppm). Therefore, the OWS is designed to **remove small amounts of oil** (the contaminant) **from a large volume of water** (the carrier fluid) so that the water can be legally discharged. **Why the Other Options are Incorrect:** * **A) Remove small amounts of oil from small amounts of water:** While the volume processed daily might be moderate, the design purpose is to treat the bulk of the bilge water accumulated, which constitutes the "large amounts of water" being separated, not small amounts. * **C) Remove small amounts of water from small amounts of oil:** This describes a dehydration or purification process applied to oil (like cleaning hydraulic fluid or fuel), not the function of a bilge oily-water separator, which cleans water for overboard discharge. * **D) Remove small amounts of water from large amounts of oil:** This is the function of a purifier or separator used to clean fuel or lubricating oil by removing contaminants (primarily water and sediment), which is the opposite operational goal of the OWS.