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15 – Conclusions

With this post we will close the cycle.

Oil Mist lubrication has been operating since 1967 in the Oil & Gas Industry with excellent results worldwide. With more than 150,000 mist lubricated pumps since then, the installed base and references are extremely large, both in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.

If you have an MTBF of less than 6 years in any of your Plants, performing a retrofit to install oil mist lubrication is without a doubt the best option that exists to improve. The project to improve lubrication will not interfere with the normal operation of the plant, and a Plant Shutdown is not required to apply the technology.

We wanted to honor the memory of Heinz Bloch with these posts and provide information so that you know firsthand the benefits of applying this technology.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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14 – Reducing Mechanical Seal Failures.

We continue to delve into the benefits of oil mist lubrication in improving the reliability of mechanical seals.

Here Heinz Bloch explains that the root cause of mechanical seal failure is sometimes misdiagnosed. When a failure is verified in a centrifugal pump and it is inspected and the mechanical seal is found to be damaged, it is determined that the root cause has been the mechanical seal; when sometimes, the true root cause has been poor lubrication in bearings, which manifested itself with a break in the mechanical seal, as this element is a kind of fuse.

It is enough to observe the recommendation of API 751 that deals with Safe Operation in Alkylation Plants; where it is recommended to use oil mist lubrication to reduce the risks of having mechanical seal failures, which cause dangerous emissions to the environment.

We can then conclude with these last two posts, that the application of oil mist lubrication will achieve a benefit in terms of reducing failures originally attributed to mechanical seals.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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13 – Failure Reduction by Mechanical Seals

Here Heinz Bloch shows us a comparison of MTBF only of Mechanical Seals, for two similar Plants, one with conventional lubrication and another with Oil Mist lubrication.

But how is it possible that the application of oil mist produces benefits in reducing mechanical seal failures, if they are not exposed to oil mist lubrication? In our Company we have many experiences of introducing mist lubrication, and receiving the same feedback from the client, indicating that they do not have problems with bearings, but they do have problems with mechanical seals.

In this video fragment we will only mention that both the mechanical seal and the bearings are mounted on the same shaft; and that any improvement that we can apply to the bearing will influence the mechanical seal.

In a future video, we will explain this topic in more detail.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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12 – Pump Repairs.

This fragment shows in more detail the reduction in failures when mist lubrication is applied. Two similar plants with about 200 pumps each are compared. In one plant, the conventional oil bath lubrication method is used, and in another plant, mist lubrication is used. The number of repairs is much lower in the plant where mist lubrication is used. The reduction is approximately 90%, without a doubt, a very important benefit.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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11 – Oil Mist Lubrication Benefits

Here we summarize the benefits of the technology, or the value that it brings to users.

Although there are multiple benefits, Heinz Bloch highlights 4 here, which we consider to be the most important.

  1. Reduction of repairs and failures. It is important to note that an unscheduled intervention to repair a centrifugal pump in the Oil & Gas Industry can have very high costs, related to materials, labor, production and others.
  2. Reduction of Labor. Being a completely automatic system, the labor allocated to conventional lubrication tasks can be reduced, redirecting these activities to others with greater added value.
  3. Reduction of oil consumption. A closed mist lubrication system will provide improvements in lubricant consumption, providing economic and sustainability benefits.
  4. Improvements in safety. By applying mist lubrication, and reducing the frequency of failures, the possibility of having a plant fire is also reduced. Even insurance companies value the use of this technology positively, impacting on the reduction of plant insurance premiums.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

 

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10 – Functions of lubricant. Protection against corrosion.

In this video, we will delve into another of the lubricant’s functions and how it is improved by moving from oil level to mist lubrication.

We analyze in detail the function of protecting against corrosion. This function is greatly improved when mist lubrication is applied, since when using oil bath or level; there is poor protection against corrosion in the pump’s internals. We know that, due to ambient temperature changes between day and night, air passages occur to and from the inside of the machine. The oil level only protects to the extent that it is present, and a large part of the pump’s internals are exposed to the passage of air with humidity, dust, or chemical agents. On the other hand, when mist lubrication is installed, all internals are impregnated and protected against corrosion. In addition, the internal positive pressure that is produced prevents any entry of external agents into the tribological system, greatly improving this lubricant function.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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Emergency Water Removal Service in Turbine

Lubritech Argentina recently carried out emergency job on a Siemens Steam Turbine of an important Petrochemical Company in the country. Our Company received a request indicating that a customer had an emergency due to high water contamination at its plant. Lubritech contacted the customer, and an urgent mobilization was carried out to be able to attend to and remedy the situation.

The steam turbine, with a lubrication system with more than 6,000 liters, presented high levels of water presence (3,500 ppm). After the installation of the Thermojet Oil Purification Equipment, we were able to remove water below 100 ppm in a few hours. The client stated that the service met their expectations and showed their satisfaction with our Organization, Service and Speed ​​of Response.

Let us remember that the presence of water in the lubricant negatively affects the life of the mechanical elements. The fact of decreasing from 3,500 ppm to 100 ppm, implies an increase in the life expectancy of the machine’s bearings of 7 times!

If you want to know a little more about the Thermojet Equipment, we invite you to watch a short video about its operation at https://youtu.be/bHm6zFc_wgY?si=dwWnq0P-eCKUMzNu

If you need or request additional information, do so through our website www.sicelub.com; or by sending an email to info@sicelub.com

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09 – Functions of lubricant. Cooling

In this video, we will delve into another of the functions of lubricant and how it is improved when
moving from oil level to oil mist lubrication.

We analyze in detail the function of cooling or removing heat. The differences between both lubrication
methods are notable, as far as the function of removing heat is concerned. In the oil bath or level, there
is the problem that part of the machine’s power must be used to “move” the oil in a liquid state. The
dissipation of this heat is slow. When oil mist lubrication is applied, and the need for the oil bath is
eliminated, liquid friction is directly eliminated. If, in addition, we consider that the oil mist enters the
system between 16 and 20 Celsius degrees of temperature; a better effect of dissipation of the
generated heat is also produced. These two effects result in temperature decreases of 10 °C on average,
and energy savings when moving from oil level to mist lubrication.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-
lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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HIGH EFFICIENCY FILTRATION OF A COMBINED CYCLE GAS TURBINE IN CATALONIA

At the end of October, Sicelub Ibérico, our company in Spain, carried out an intervention in an important Combined Cycle Power Plant in Catalonia. We intervened on a gas turbine.

We drained the lubricating oil from the main tank, approximately 23,000 liters, into an external tank, where a high efficiency filtration is carried out, while a mechanical cleaning of the tank is carried out, considered a Confined Space. It is important to indicate that during the cleaning we found tools inside the tank (see photo).

Once the cleaning of the tank was completed, and having the approval of the owner, the oil is loaded again under filtration; until reaching the appropriate ISO cleaning code.

A 320 lt/min filtration system was used with 34” long filter elements and β1›1000 (filtration efficiency of 99.9% for particles larger than 1 micron).

It can be seen in the ISO 4406 Code evolution curve how the lubricant cleanliness level was improved from ISO 19/18/14 to ISO 14/13/11. This means that the lubricant oil is delivered with 30 times less particle content. This feature provides a greater probability of correct operation of the turbine, and a longer expected life of the lubricant.

It is also very important to highlight that, due to the Meteorological Alert, we had to change the return route of our technicians, to avoid any risk.

We would like to thank our clients, our suppliers, and our staff for their trust in us, in providing a quality, safe, and environmentally friendly service.

If you wish to receive information about our services, please do not hesitate to request it at info@sicelub.com, send a message to our WhatsApp line +34 616 54 7086, or visit our website www.sicelub.com.

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08 – Lubricant Functions. Particle Removal.

In this video, we are going to delve into another of the lubricant’s functions and how it is improved by moving from oil level to oil mist lubrication.

We analyze in detail the function of removing particles. When we have an oil bath, it is easy to notice that any dirt or wear particles present will remain suspended in the oil bath, and there is no possibility of them being eliminated. The presence of these particles will cause abrasive wear of the bearings. In the case of oil mist lubrication, since there is a permanent flow of oil mist entering and leaving the system, it is easy to notice that any dirt or wear particles present will be expelled outside the tribological contact zone. A common example is to compare the situation of taking a daily immersion bath, always using the same water, which periodically becomes dirty; with the situation of changing the above for a fresh shower with clean water, a situation that is undoubtedly much more effective and common.

The process that would be quite strange for a daily personal hygiene situation; It is widely accepted in the industry when it comes to bearing lubrication. Undoubtedly, an opportunity for significant improvement.

You can leave your comments here, visit our webpage at https://sicelub.com/en/solutions-sicelub-lubritech-group/#tab-id-1 , or asking for more information to our email info@sicelub.com

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