How long has it been since you serviced your lube oil system?

With todays technology for oil analysis we have gone to a conditioned based response. Condition based is great for monitoring current condition of lubrication in the system but many times at the cost of preventative maintenance of the lube oil reservoir and filters. As a service provider it is not uncommon for us to hear that the reservoir has not been cleaned for 10 years and the filters are great…been running on the same filter for the last 3 years.

Meanwhile, contaminates, varnish and water are dropping out and building up in your reservoirs and system low-points. Condition based monitoring does not provide accurate measurement of these dangers threats to your critical parts and system internals, especially because when they congregate in reservoirs ISO counts in flowing fluid may appear to be low. That is, until the day they are suddenly sky high!

Even with a condition based program, filtration and reservoir cleaning should be on your preventative maintenance list to extend the life of the increasingly costly hydraulic fluids and protect the life of your equipment.

RIG can help you with a custom built embedded lubrication program.

From oil analysis, contamination control, oil reclamation, breathers and filters RIG is here to help.

Contact the Reliable Industrial Group team at 1-800-770-4510 for more information or email [email protected] 

Generally speaking, there are 3 types of filters for solid and soft contamination. Each application is dependent on the efficiency and performance needed.

• Synthetic Microglass filters have smaller pore sizes with a higher efficiency ratio than most other filters.
• Synthetic media is less sensitive to moisture than cellulose or blown media and has a higher dirt holding capacity than other filters.
  • Baldwin has a study that shows contamination that plugs 50% of cellulose filters will only plug 10% of synthetic media allowing for higher flow rates.
• Cellulose media is constructed of wood pulp and is a very economical means of filtration. We find that cellulose is less efficient than microglass but is very helpful when there is little water contamination in a reservoir that it would not be economical to run a fluid conditioner on.
• Melt Blown Filtration—Only used in fuel filtration applications and has very good water separation characteristics.

This does not mean that if you have water contamination, you must select a cellulose media. There are many vendors out there that will impregnate a microglass filter with water absorbing media in order to handle the task at hand. It is very important to pull data based on lubricant analysis in order to acquire the most economical filtration Cart for your applications.

Selection a Filter

Selecting the right filter and doing a proper setup is a specialty area of RIG’s. We can walk you through the process and ensure both critical equipment safety and minimal downtime during setup and breakdown. Some general considerations:

• Fluid characteristics
  • Lubricant Viscosity—High viscosity lubricants should not be pumped through fine filtration at high speeds due to air entrainment which results in cavitation and machine wear.
  • Lubricant OEM—Some lubricant manufacturers have heavier additive packages than others. Lubricants with high defoamant additives should not be filtered with sub-micron filtration.
  • Synthetic or Mineral Oil—Filter seal application is dependent on temperature, fluid type, and application.
  • Type of Fluid—Initial determination of filtration media will be taken into account dependent on the amount of water in the lubricant or if it is a water/oil invert lubricant.
• Micron level rating — how fine a particle filters can catch
  • ISO Standard 4406:1999, which covers hydraulic fluid contaminants, requires filtration of solid particles as small as four microns in the oil
  • For context, a micron (μm) is one-thousandth of a millimeter — 0.00004. Traditional filtration can only remove particles to about 1 μm. And the smallest particle visible to the human eye is 25 μm; a human hair is about 100 μm wide.
• Rating: absolute vs. nominal
  • Absolute — remove 98%+ of contaminants in one pass
  • Nominal — remove 50% – 97% of contaminants in one pass (varies by manufacturer)
• Ability to withstand various process conditions — check manufacturer recommendations for the following to ensure proper filter operation:
  • Temperature
  • Pressure
  • Flow rate

Example

If a 10-micron filter has 1,000,000 particles upstream and 1,000 particles pass through its media, the Beta Ratio would be calculated as 1,000,000/1,000 – B1000. In addition, Beta Ratios can be expressed as an efficiency percentage-efficiency % – (Beta minus 1) / Beta * 100. The Beta 1000 element is 99.9% effective. See the efficiency chart below for more examples.

• How do we assure our people are not going to pass along the virus and start a second wave?
• What machinery issues can arise with forced downtime, delayed maintenance, and system re-starts?
• How can we save costs with the Covid-19 financial impact?

• Coronavirus plant disinfectant and cleaning services
• Bearing and return line flushing
• Lubricant sampling and analysis to identify potential machine wear and lubricant degradation
• Lubricant re-conditioning and recycling services which reduce the cost of purchasing new oil
• Filter and breather replacement
• Steam and air blowing to eliminate debris in piping and other systems
• Hydrolazing services, which are an environmentally friendly way to scrape debris and contaminates from piping internals
• Reservoir cleaning and varnish removal services
• Chemical cleaning, varnish removal and oil flushing services which thoroughly remove debris, varnish, and other problematic contaminates from piping, turbines, tanks and other equipment

In addition, some of our service programs are designed to save you both time and money which may help during these uncertain times. Our “Best-In-Class” Lubrication Programs lower long-term costs by creating a custom lubrication and maintenance program that ensure machines are always operating at OEM recommended ISO levels, recycling or reconditioning oil to lower the cost of purchasing new oil, and providing embedded technicians when appropriate.

Our partnership with ExxonMobil Lubricants as the MobilServ℠ Integrated Lubrication Services Program Provider allow us to work with your team’s lubrication needs from cradle to grave for each piece of machinery. For help coming back on-line or additional information on any of programs email: [email protected] or call 800-770-4510.

We stand with those who make the world work!

• How do we assure our people are not going to pass along the virus and start a second wave?
• What machinery issues can arise with forced downtime, delayed maintenance, and system re-starts?
• How can we save costs with the Covid-19 financial impact?

• Coronavirus plant disinfectant and cleaning services
• Plant pre-commissioning and turnaround services
• Lubricant sampling and analysis to identify potential machine wear and lubricant degradation
• Lubricant re-conditioning and recycling services which reduce the cost of purchasing new oil
• Filter and breather replacement
• Emergency lubricant water and particulate removal services
• Steam and air blowing to eliminate debris in piping and other systems
• Hydrolazing services, which are an environmentally friendly way to scrape debris and contaminates from piping internals
• Reservoir cleaning and varnish removal services
• Chemical cleaning, varnish removal and oil flushing services which thoroughly remove debris, varnish, and other problematic contaminates from piping, turbines, tanks and other equipment

In addition, some of our service programs are designed to save you both time and money which may help during these uncertain times. Our “Best-In-Class” Lubrication Programs lower long-term costs by creating a custom lubrication and maintenance program that ensure machines are always operating at OEM recommended ISO levels, recycling or reconditioning oil to lower the cost of purchasing new oil, and providing embedded technicians when appropriate.

Our partnership with ExxonMobil Lubricants as the MobilServ℠ Integrated Lubrication Services Program Provider allow us to work with your team’s lubrication needs from cradle to grave for each piece of machinery. For help coming back on-line or additional information on any of programs email: [email protected] or call 800-770-4510.

We stand with those who make the world work!

Regular maintenance and lubricant reconditioning of critical gas processing equipment can extend the life of your critical components, reduce oil replacement costs, and prevent the major causes of equipment failure.

Which services should you be performing and how often? The chart below lays out an optimal maintenance schedule for Gas Processing Plants. Use this as a guide for setting up your maintenance program:

Table 1. Maintenance Schedule for Gas Processing Plants

EMBEDDED TECHNICIAN PROGRAM

If you don’t want to have to worry about tracking and upkeeping these reliability services yourself, the Reliable Industrial Group (RIG) philosophy is to embed a full-time technician to support your plant’s maintenance and reliability ambitions. Current Programs may include MLA or MLT trained personnel to perform services including:

• On site reclamation of hydraulic fluids
• Air breather supply and replacement
• Oil filter supply and replacement
• Oil sampling
• Oil sample report review
• Inline filtration, dehydration, and varnish mitigation
• Documentation, maintenance reporting, cost savings analysis

RIG’s embedded technician program is not limited to the above services. We can customize a number of reliability programs to meet the safety and reliability goals of your facility.

CONTACT RELIABLE INDUSTRIAL GROUP (RIG)

To work with the industry leader in plant reliability and maintenance services, call 800-770-4510 today or learn more at www.theRIGteam.com.

Bacteria colonies are a growing and expensive problem

As steam turbines throughout the United States age and maintenance intervals are pushed out, preventing bacteria growth inside turbines is becoming ever more important. Bacteria colonies can affect oil quality, produce corrosive by products, and clog control systems which can result in significant repair costs.

There are three main types of bacteria that grow in lube oil systems:

• Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB), which are anaerobic bacteria that survive off sulfate
• Acid Producing Bacteria (APB), also anaerobic and ferment sugars, usually light organic acids
• General Aerobic Bacteria (GAB), which require oxygen to survive and grow

Specific conditions must exist for the bacteria to develop and grow. Water must be present, but as little as 0.5 mL of water per Liter of turbine oil can do the trick. Organic material (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous), optimum temperatures, stagnant or low flow areas of the system, suspended particles, and emulsification of the oil are the other key ingredients. The presence of oxygen will act as a accelerant, speeding up bacteria growth. But how do you know if these conditions have developed in your turbine?

Operational Signs of Bacterial Growth

Lab analysis is the best way to confirm the presence of bacteria and the only way to know which type you have. But, there are some other signs and symptoms you can look for:

• Do you see any clear, silicone colored gel inside the site glass of your oil filtration skid?
• Are your filters frequently plugged with a jelly substance? What about your control orifices or lines?
• Are you controls slow to respond or under responding? Have you had a unit trip recently?
• Have you been operating for prolonged periods with water levels greater than 500 ppm?
• Are you seeing emulsified oil or an oil/water mix that will not easily separate?
• Has your turbine failed any of these tests recently?
  • Water demulsification test (ASTM D1401)
  • Turbine oil foaming characteristics test (ASTM D892)
  • Relatively rapid turbine oil oxidation as measured by the RPVOT test (ASTM D2272), especially if the oil has not been overheated
• Do you see any isolated, concentrated rust spots on metal parts of filter ends, turbine bearing components, and so on?

How to Remove Bacteria from Your Turbine

If you do suspect you have a problem, or even if you just want peace of mind and simple want to check, here’s what you should do.

1. Confirm the presence and type of bacteria with the help of a fluid analysis lab. Don’t know a good lab? We can help with that. Simply call us at 1-800-770-4510 and we can be on-site within 24 hours or less.
2. Remove the contaminated oil. Do not use in-plant piping during the oil removal – this will only increase the risk of spreading the bacteria.
3. Inspect and clean the lube oil systems, dissembling and cleaning major components, especially reservoirs and filter housings.
4. Have a high volume, high temperature oil flush performed on the system. Do not use old oil for this flush! Bacteria, bacteria, bacteria!
5. Refill the system with new oil
6. Add recommended biocide to the lube oil

Knowing the difference between oil flushes, when to use which, and the proper terminology to describe them is key to extending your equipment life. While our certified field technicians are exceptional at making sure the right flush is applied every time, it is important to us that our customers understand what is happening with their lube oil and are integral part of the overall oil cleanliness management plan.

The main categories of oil flush are:

1. High Velocity Flush
With a descriptive, memorable name, this is the type most customers have heard of. It is the best approach to take during all major maintenance, system failures, or when you large amounts of contaminants/debris are in the system. It is the most effective at removing all lingering materials and particles. High velocity flushes create chaotic flow within the system, breaking off and removing any unwanted, clinging debris. The violent nature of this action requires that bypasses for sensitive system components such as pumps, valves, bearings, orifice plates, accumulator bindings etc. are protected during the flush. Verify results with inspection screens/media and particle counts.

One misconception about this process is that high velocity occurs when high turbulent flow is achieved. While turbulent flow can be achieved at Reynolds numbers around 4,000, this is normally not enough turbulence to remove all damaging debris. Most high velocity flushes target a Reynolds number of 20,000 or 2-3 times the normal system flow rate. 

2. System Flush
Most appropriate for light maintenance work and non-critical systems, this flush utilizes system pumps. Like with high velocity flushing, all critical components should be bypassed with jumper hoses and protected. Using system pumps to flush out foreign material will take longer than using an external pump, which is why this method is not recommended for turnarounds or maintenance with a strict deadline.

3. Circulation Filtration
A system in production can undergo circulation filtration, with pumps running in the normal flow pattern. Circulation filtration is limited in scope, but can successfully clean reservoirs or aid in filtering/changing lubricants. External filtration off a reservoir is the typical approach. It is appropriate for annual maintenance, but not for any outage that includes pipe breaks or the opening of bearing housings. Verify results with a lab analysis or field kit.

4. Rinse/Purge
When changing lubricants or displacing cleaning chemicals (including detergents), a rinse/purge flush is often utilized. The procedure includes draining the system, refilling the reservoir to the minimum circulation level, and then using the system pumps to circulate oil in a normal flow pattern. Usually only a particle count is needed to verify, but labs or field kits may be used if employed during a varnish mitigation procedure.

We always recommend consulting with an oil flush expert if you are unsure which oil flush is appropriate or how to remove contaminates from your system. However, you should have an annual maintenance plan that involves regular lube oil flushes to control ISO cleanliness levels. If you don’t have one in place now, speak to one of our certified technicians about mapping one out and getting into place, or check out our blog on how to develop one.

Source: Larry B. Jordan

Pre-commissioning is a critical project phase that takes place following the construction of piping and process systems, but before those process products are introduced into the systems. The purpose of pre-commissioning is to safeguard the integrity of your systems and ensure they don’t have debris or contaminants that can damage equipment and delay system startup.

Pre-commissioning:

• Helps ensure project ROI
• Reduces startup delays
• Ensures the operability of critical equipment, which maximizes system uptime

In this post, we cover the most common pre-commissioning methods for cleaning your system of mill scale, debris and other contaminants. It’s important to note, when you enlist a service provider to handle pre-commissioning for your system, these techniques should be customized to your system.

Air Blow Cleaning

• In air blowing, air is pumped through your system at more than 1.5 times PSI above normal operation, creating a drag force that removes debris
• The process involves specialty equipment to pressurize the system, including: air receivers, quick-opening valves, oil-free, dry compressed air and fittings and hoses
• Once pressurized, stored energy pushes out debris in a controlled manner so it doesn’t damage expensive equipment downstream
• Air blowing is the simplest, fastest, and least expensive cleaning method

Learn more about our air blowing services.

Steam Blow Cleaning

• Steam blows are necessary for most steam lines and turbine systems
• In this process, high-pressure steam is blown through temporary piping toward steam receivers to remove debris, usually at 1.2 times PSI above normal operation
• There are multiple approaches to steam blows, including the puffing method and the continuous blowing method
• There are significant noise and temperature hazards that require a strong process to control — learn more in this article

Learn more about our steam blowing services

High-Velocity Oil Flushing (HVOF)

• All rotating equipment must be cleaned and prepared before going into operation
• For large-scale operations, a high-velocity oil flush (HVOF) is the most common method
• In this approach, lube oil is run through your systems and filtered out, bringing contaminants with it
• This requires system and turbulent flow analysis as well as a detailed flushing plan to ensure success
• System cleanliness is proven using automatic particle counters or manual microscope analysis on filter paper, depending on the system

Learn more about oil flushing

Hydrostatic/Leak Testing

• Following cleaning of tanks, piping and vessels, it’s crucial to test the system’s structural integrity and ensure there aren’t leaks
• This can include pneumatic testing, hydrotesting, helium leak detection and other approaches

Learn more about hydrostatic testing services

Chemical Cleaning

• Chemical cleaning is used on pipe systems to remove surface contaminants
• It dissolves soluble debris and absorbs them into a solution
• It’s crucial to get this procedure right, as without proper planning, filtration and removal, it’s easy to leave debris behind
• It’s particularly important to select the correct, OEM-approved cleaner for your system

Learn more about the chemical cleaning process from this guide

Fluid Pumping

• High-velocity flushing can also be used on large bore piping to remove debris
• The same approach is used for boiler feed water flushing, glycol flushing and water flushing

Dewatering

• Dewatering is the process of removing water from solid material
• There are several approaches, including: centrifugation, filtration and other liquid separation approaches
• Dewatering is a simple process, but must be handled with care in order to protect the environment from unexpected spills

System Filtration

• Many pre-commissioning services require filtration
• One approach is to set up a slip stream on a live system
• Sometimes, if heavier-duty filtration is required, it’s necessary to connect external filters full bore into the system

Selecting a Pre-Commissioning Service Provider

As pre-commissioning is such a crucial part of a project process, it’s best to use a professional services provider. We recommend selecting a professional partner to:

• Design, manage and execute pre-commissioning strategies
• Achieve cost-effectiveness, scheduling, quality and reduction of project risk
• Bring experience, knowledge and integrity
• Have an experienced, professional team of field staff
• Have experience working with companies like yours

At RIG, we take pride in delivering excellent pre-commissioning services and ensuring our clients’ success.