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In This Issue:

• Up Front: Streamlining Pump Lubrication

• Book Bits: Indoor Storage of Lubricants

• Today's Tip: Avoiding Bearing Contamination
  

• Q & A: Truth To Oil Life Extension Claims?
  

Up Front

Streamlining Pump Lubrication

Consider draining your ANSI pump sumps and installing a pure mist lubrication system. These systems require little maintenance and help ensure the right amount of the correct lubricant is applied every time. You can install a sight drain bottle to inspect for contaminants and/or to collect a sample for oil analysis.

We have oil mist headers running about 800' in the Midwest without any problems. There are no oil changes to manage, no sumps to fill, less chance of using the wrong lubricant and it's an easy way to convert all of your pumps to a synthetic lubricant (use of a synthetic lubricant is recommended in cold climates to avoid plugging the reclassifiers with paraffin).

However, some operator surveillance is still needed to inspect and drain sight drain bottles - weekly is adequate.

Submitted by Daniel Sterrick, Sr. Mechanical Engineer, Kraton Polymers. Thanks Daniel!

Each Up Front story published will earn the sender $50. To submit a case study, experience or lesson learned click here or e-mail mramsey@noria.com.

Book Bits

Indoor Storage of Lubricants

From "Practical Lubrication for Industrial Facilities":

Storage temperatures should remain moderate at all times. The oilhouse should be located away from such possible sources of industrial contamination as coke dust, cement dust, textile mill fly, and similar forms of grit or soot. It should be kept clean at all times, with regular cleaning schedules being maintained. This applies above all to the dispensing equipment, which must never be allowed to become fouled, since this results in contamination and poor functioning.

Contamination and confusion of brands are two main things to be avoided in the handling of partially emptied containers and dispensing equipment. Thus orderliness is essential. Dispensing equipment should bear a label that matches the container from which it was filled. Labels on all equipment and containers should be kept legible at all times. Drying oils, such as linseed oil, should not be stored in the oilhouse. If they get into a lubrication system, the result, of course, is faulty lubrication and stoppage.

Click here for more information about "Practical Lubrication for Industrial Facilities".

Today's Tip

• Most large motors that have bearings with oil reservoirs are topped off through pipe plugs located on the top of the bearing housing. The problem is that as the top off oil is added to the reservoir it first passes over the threads for the pipe plug washing any dirt, metal or other contaminants into the reservoir. To cure this try screwing a short pipe nipple into the opening and capping it off with a pipe cap. When oil is added now, it no longer passes over the active threaded area helping to keep your top off oil contaminant free. (Tip submitted by Robert Walker, Oil Specialist, Reliant Energy. Thanks Robert!)

Each tip published will earn the sender $25. Click here to submit your tip.

Q & A

Truth To Oil Life Extension Claims?

"I've heard that a lubricant's life is cut in half for every 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) increase in operating temperature. Is there any truth to this?"

Yes, this is generally true. The concept is based on the Arrhenius Rate Rule, named for 19th-century Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius. Heat increases both the collision rate of molecules and the activation energy of the reaction. The higher activation energy helps overcome the barrier (or natural resistance) molecules have to chemical reactions.

With oils, the chemical reaction that typically causes base oil degradation and additive depletion is oxidation. The activation energy required to induce oxidation in oil is high compared to other chemical reactions. The presence of contaminants such as water and certain metal particles in the oil can considerably speed up the process, i.e., increasing the activation rate. For most in-service mineral oils with typical contaminants, the activation energy for oxidation corresponds to a doubling for every 10 degrees C temperature increment.

Why does a refrigerator keep food from spoiling? Spoiling is a chemical reaction like oil oxidation but proceeds at a much higher rate constant. Compared to a refrigerator (4 degrees F), food will spoil at a rate 142 times faster at room temperature (77 degrees F). In otherwords, the speed of reaction in a freezer is much slower than at room temperature.

Jim Fitch, Noria Corporation

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