When you drop ice cream in the mud, nothing happens to the mud. It just becomes more mud. Meanwhile, the ice cream is ruined forever. The same is true of lubricants. No matter how clean your new oil is, if you have it delivered into a dirty storage tank, you will end up with very expensive mud.
This might surprise you,
but new oil isn't necessarily clean oil.
Tank particulate contamination typically occurs in three different ways: through the vent, through he fill port or through corrosion wear inside the tank.
On the surface, it would seem that dirt is pretty cheap. A typical 300-gallon lubricant storage tank or reservoir with a cleanliness level of 24/22/19 has about two-hundredths of a pound of dirt suspended in the fluid (not including the sediment at the bottom). It doesn't seem like such an insignificant amount of dirt would cost much at all, if anything.
In fact, that much dirt in your lubricating or hydraulic oil is very expensive. Particulate contaminants can shorten the life of your roller bearing elements by about two-thirds, and you only get about one-seventh of the expected life out of your hydraulic systems with dirty fluid.
Unplanned outages, lost production and maintenance overtime are all very expensive. As a general rule, I estimate a chemical processing unit makes about $25,000 an hour. At that rate, 48 hours of downtime can cost well over a million dollars in revenue. An ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of profit.
Tank particulate contamination typically occurs in three different ways: through the vent, through the fill port or through corrosion wear inside the tank. The last is usually the result of water ingress through the vent and will likely go away if you take care of the first two issues. Retrofitting your storage tank with a good 3-micron breather filter will take care of these two sources of contamination.
But once you have your storage tank all cleaned up with breather filters, how do you keep from contaminating it again through the fill port? This might surprise you, but new oil isn't necessarily clean oil. Over time, particulates settle in your new fluid and build up in the bottom of your tank, only to be redistributed in the tank by the turbulence of adding new fluid. What can you do to prevent it? The answer is to not accumulate the particulates in the tank in the first place.
The only way to remove particulates is through filtration, and there are numerous options available on the market. You can put an in-line filter on your dispensing nozzle or install a more sophisticated kidney-loop filtration system on your storage tank. You can also implement a nitrogen purge or use an indoor storage area with filtered air. All these things will help keep your oil clean, but they take time and money to maintain.
So instead, consider purchasing certified clean lubricants from a leading provider. Rigorous filtration is followed by three methods of verification, and your oil is delivered with a certificate of analysis and a guaranteed cleanliness level, helping extend the life expectancy of your equipment.
For more information, visit www.suncoastresources.com or call (800) 677-FUEL [3835].
