Exam Question

### (a) ALCAP Purification System: Sketch and Description
**Concept**
The ALCAP (Separator for Clarification and Purification) system is an advanced fuel oil purification concept developed by Alfa Laval, specifically designed to treat modern low-grade, high-density heavy fuel oils (HFO) where the specific gravity can be as high as 1.01 g/cm³ at 15°C (i.e., density greater than water). The primary challenge with such fuels is that the density difference between the fuel and water is minimal or non-existent, rendering traditional gravity disc-based separators ineffective and unreliable.
The ALCAP system overcomes this by operating without a conventional gravity disc and without maintaining a fixed oil-water interface within the separator bowl. Instead, it functions primarily as a clarifier, with a sophisticated electronic control system to manage water removal.