Flushing to Remove Varnish and High Velocity Flushing at an Italian Refinery

Sicelub Ibérico was contracted to perform a major project at an Italian refinery. We worked on a lubrication system with 8,500 liters of oil that operates as a lubrication system for three turbo compressors, two of which also feature a seal system. Previous evaluations had determined the presence of varnish in the lubricant, which affected the reliability and availability of the equipment.

Therefore, a special procedure was designed to be carried out during a Scheduled Shutdown, which consisted of two phases.

In the first phase, an external solvent product was added, diluted to 10% in the lubricant, to increase the solubility of the mixture and, by high-temperature circulation through the system, to remove as much varnish as possible from pipes, heat exchangers, control system, etc. At the end of this phase, the reservoir was drained and cleaned, using a flushing oil to remove any remaining cleaning fluid from the system.

For the second phase, with bypasses already in place, a high velocity flushing was performed, as recommended by the new version of ASTM Standard D-6439, which states that a Reynolds number greater than 10,000 must be achieved for a successful flush. In this phase, oil analyses were performed, and as can be seen in the photographs, the oil level began with an ISO 22/21/17 code; in less than 48 hours, the reduction was achieved to ISO 17/14/10.

To better understand this reduction, it is noted that the particle count was reduced by a factor of 75 on average. In less than 48 hours, the particle count was 75 times lower, representing a significant increase in reliability for the lubricated equipment. Finally, a Thermojet Purification System was left operating to remove water, particles, and gases, a critical piece of equipment in terms of contamination levels.

We would like to say thanks to the personnel involved:

Marcelino Castejón, José Julián Gómez, and Aitor García.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through our website www.sicelub.com or send an email to info@sicelub.com

 

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Chemical Cleaning and Hydraulic Flushing Service in Argentina

Our company, Lubritech Argentina, was recently awarded to perform an intervention on a Siemens SST 300 Steam Turbine at a power plant in northeast of Argentina.

Four technicians, coordinated by our Service Leader, Martín Videla, were deployed to perform chemical cleaning and high velocity oil flushing of the various lubrication, control, and lifting systems, as well as oil-side heat exchangers.

A preliminary pre-engineering stage was conducted to determine the cleaning fluids to be used; once these were selected, degreasing, acid cleaning, and neutralization activities were performed, followed by high velocity oil flushing. It is very important to note here that the new revision of the ASTM D6439 Flushing Standard is more restrictive regarding the Reynolds number to be achieved for turbulent flushing. The Reynolds number is required to be greater than 10,000, whereas previous versions of the standard stated it was 4,000.

We attach some photographs of the work team, as well as the system before and after cleaning. The work was carried out with safety, quality, and meeting the client’s expectations.

Lubritech Argentina thanks the plant team consisting of Videla Martin, Sebastian Romero, Facundo Segura, Marcos Herrera, and Rodrigo Coppiarolo.

If you have any questions or needs, please contact us through our website www.sicelub.com or by emailing info@sicelub.com, indicating your location and your needs. Please note that the Sicelub Lubritech Group has a presence in Latin America and Europe.

 

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Sicelub Ibérico SL obtains Sustainability certification in Spain

Recently, our company in Spain, Sicelub Ibérico, obtained a Sustainability certification; being among the 15% best in Spain in this regard. The result indicated that we were in the 86th percentile, which indicates an excellent value.

We would like to thank Leila Martí, who led the audit and certification process.

At the Sicelub Lubritech Group, and as part of Reladyne, we believe that Sustainability is a very important value to follow, since we are aware of the changes that occur in the world; and we do our part to reduce the amount of harmful waste, make efficient use of resources, and care for the Environment.

We also seek to improve our labor and human rights practices, along with Professional Ethics. You can see more information at: https://reladyne.com/es/company/sustainability-in-motion/

If you have any questions on this topic, or need for solutions in the field of lubrication, please contact us via our email info@sicelub.com

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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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