With the limited amount of storage space inside plants, it is common to have an outside storage area for new oil drums. This practice creates a high risk for ingression of water into the new oil if the drums are not stored properly. This is especially true during the summer months when the temperature of the drums can be upward of 150 degrees F.
“I recently decanted some diesel engine oil into a 208-liter drum and weighed it. It weighed 197 kilograms. I then sealed the drum. After a week, I re-weighed the drum and discovered that it weighed only 185 kilograms. Where did the lost weight go?”
A common question that I am often asked is about how to select the right filtration skid for offline kidney-loop oil filtration. This is one of the most neglected and least understood issues in the industry, costing companies billions of dollars in losses.
When implementing a formal lubrication program to improve reliability and reduce operating costs, it is necessary to have a holistic and systemic vision of the project. This will require taking into account several elements collectively in order to achieve the desired results.
Whether the program is for a fixed plant or a mobile fleet, the lubrication-related factors to consider can be described according to the lubricant’s life cycle. These include lubricant selection, lubricant reception and storage, lubricant handling and application, contamination control, lubricant analysis, and lubricant disposal. Following is a brief explanation of each element.
“What is the best cleaning procedure for contaminated oil drums? We are starting a project for off-line purification of 80,000 liters of varnish-contaminated turbine oil. The oils arrive at our workplace in 55-gallon steel drums. The challenge is washing and cleaning dirty drums and filling them again with purified oil. Is there any standard procedure for cleaning tight-head drums, or should we dispose and replace them with new ones?”
