What is lubricant mix-up?

Lubricant mix-up describes any situation where the lubricant, new or in service, does not meet the exact specification requirement.

When talking about aviation assets one asset stands above the rest - the aircraft. There are approximately thirty thousand airliners in service today, used for both passenger and freight transportation.  This number includes hundreds of thousands of individual small aircraft.  Today, all of these fleets are growing quickly as the need for air travel continues to increase. Oil analysis is widely used in the aviation industry and has been for many years because the benefits are well understood. Large planes, smaller planes, and even helicopters are all considered aircraft, and a few major lubricated assets are critical to these aircraft. One of these assets is the engine. Engine types have various designs such as turbofans, turbojets, turbo props, even piston engines. The majority of them have similar lubricants, but different lubricants exist depending on the specific application. Other types of lubricated components in an aircraft consist of hydraulic systems, gearbox systems and APU's (auxiliary power units). There are also a lot of ground support equipment types supporting the aircraft before it gets in the air, including gen sets, air handler systems or fuel transfer systems.

Let's Discuss Marine Markets

When talking about marine markets there are three major areas: merchant fleets, Marine Naval Forces, and cruise lines. It's important to note that this large industry uses on-site oil analysis at all times to ensure equipment uptime. Ninety percent of global trade is by sea, with about 70,000 vessels transporting goods around the world. All countries with Naval forces use them to project power and influence. Reliability is critical, so on board oil analysis is widely used. The cruise line entertainment industry is a fast growing segment of the marine market with high profitability, so reliability is critical for success.

In any marine application there's a prime mover, which is the main engine, but there are other key lubricated assets on board as well. There are thruster hydraulics, backup generators for power, gear reducers, compressors for air -- essentially a floating power plant. Since there are so many different lubricated assets, there are  a variety of different lubricants on board. Engine designs, types of fuel, and types of fluids per regulatory compliance all complicate the monitoring task. As a result, monitoring should be performed on a regular basis.

The pulp and paper industry is comprised of facilities that manufacture corrugated paper, flake or particle board pressing, woven or fiber spinning, and general craft paper. The unique aspect of pulp and paper is the integrated complexity in medium to large- sized plant operations. Typically, people think about the paper end of the system, but there is actually a much more complex system at hand.

How can on-site oil analysis benefit food and beverage organizations? Our expert, Dan Walsh, illustrates how on-site oil analysis programs can positively impact operational excellence for food and beverage manufacturers.

Monitoring the lubrication systems of plant equipment is critical for optimizing performance and reducing machinery downtime. On-site oil analysis supports condition monitoring by providing immediate answers regarding the condition of any lubricated equipment. It ensures the proper lubrication of equipment and it provides early detection of wear and helps with contamination control.

Monitoring the lubrication systems of plant equipment is critical for optimizing performance and reducing machinery downtime. On-site oil analysis supports condition monitoring by providing immediate answers regarding the condition of any lubricated equipment. It ensures the proper lubrication of equipment and it provides early detection of wear and helps with contamination control.

Mining Fleet Oil Analysis

Mining fleets and their managers utilize oil analysis to keep their equipment up and running. From drill and blast to transportation, they need to know their equipment won't fail on them. Some of the largest equipment in the world is created for mining fleets, and keeping them lubricated is of utmost importance. On-site oil analysis can not only keep equipment in check, but lower maintenance costs as well. In the latest addition to the "Ask the Expert" video series, Dan Walsh discusses how on-site oil analysis can decrease maintenance costs, and increase profit.

Typical mining processes have five key stages that can either be in one location, or spread out in multiple areas. Those stages are drill and blast, load and haul, process, stockpile, and transport.

In the world of mining, there are different types of mining. It can range from strip, also known as open pit, mining which is common for some of the major ores, to underground mining, which is common in different areas of the world. Mines extracting precious metals such as gold, lead, silver, coal, iron, etc. have interest in on-site oil analysis because those metals can show up in the oil itself.

Understanding the entire process from drill and blast, to actually getting the ore on the market is very important. Knowing that all in cost, or major KPI, is how mines determine how much profit they are able to make. For example, gold extraction can range from $350 to $700 per oz for the all in cash cost. Reducing the cost of operation is how all mines can increase their profit margins.

Why On-site Oil Analysis?

Maintenance costs are the largest percentage of the entire operation costs. For open pit mining, 45% to 60% of the operation cost is purely maintenance cost due to it being heavily intensive with capital equipment. Underground mining is typically less than 35% because the product and equipment is different. Smelters and other first processes can be between 25% to 30%. Any effort to reduce the cost of maintenance increases overall profit. On-site oil analysis is very attractive to mining operations for that exact purpose. 

Equipment and Tests

The image below shows the type of equipment seen at each stage of the mining process- drill and blast, load and haul, and final process, the moving parts within that equipment, and the tests that should be run for each stage.

The Solution

Oil and gas exploration companies have been using oil analysis for many years to lower maintenance costs, predict and prevent equipment failures, and increase uptime for drill rigs, both on land and at sea. The often remote location of such rigs and inaccessibility to commercial oil analysis laboratories make them perfect candidates for on-site oil analysis. In this edition of Ask the Expert, Dan Walsh discusses the need for on-site oil analysis and many of the benefits for exploration companies.

Oil and gas rigs are pretty similar whether they are land or sea based. In each case they typically have a drill platform used to drill into the ground below to extract the buried oil or gas. The drill platform is powered by a central power plant usually comprised of one or more diesel gensets and/or AC generators. In addition to a central power plant, drill rigs have numerous gearboxes, rotary drives, hydraulics, mud pumps, clutches, torque converters and other rotating equipment lubricated with oil and grease. 

Sea based rigs have the same equipment for drilling plus additional equipment to provide propulsion. This is typically separate from the drilling power plant. 

Older rigs often have mechanical, direct-drive systems linking the power plant to the drilling unit. Newer rigs commonly use AC or SCR systems that provide more control over the speed of the drilling. 

It is estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 rigs in operation now worldwide. On average these rigs need the price of a barrel of oil to be >$55 in order to profitably produce oil. Some operations, like those in Saudi Arabia, have a lower break-even point.

Why On-site Analysis? 

Unlike fixed factories, oil rigs are typically mobile and can move often to new oil fields either on land or sea. As such the logistics of sending samples to commercial laboratories can get difficult and often, impossible. This is one reason why on-site oil analysis is a great solution for oil and gas exploration companies. 

Other reasons that on-site oil analysis works well in this industry include:

• Turnover of personnel - personnel, particularly on off-shore rigs, often rotate in and out after a few weeks. Having easy to use oil analysis equipment with clear reporting and recommended maintenance actions simplifies the process for all.
• Time for oil drain intervals - it can be quite expensive getting supplies of new oil to remote locations and disposing of used oil properly. Anything to reduce oil usage saves money.
• Cost of disrupting production - replacement parts are often hard to come by. Being able to plan shutdowns and have the proper parts available improves production. 

Logistics

One of the nice things about having your own, on-site oil analysis is that it allows you gather copious amounts of data on your equipment, lubricants and maintenance practices. Having this information enables better decision making.

• OEM analysis. Some inferences can be made about equipment reliability and uptime, which can help your future buying decisions
• Lubricant quality
• Maintenance resource allocation - make better decisions about what spare parts to have on hand

Typical Equipment  and Tests

The image below shows the three categories of equipment that are typically monitored - Engines, Rotating Equipment and Hydraulics, and what tests are important for each category.

The image outlines the main concerns with each type of equipment and which specific tests are recommended. For instance, only engines are burning fuel and being cooled by glycol, so engine testing would involve testing for fuel dilution, soot, glycol in addition to several other parameters, such as viscosity, wear elements, TBN and nitration. 

This MicroLab Series is well-suited to performing these tests in a matter of 10 minutes. The MicroLab is simple to use and produces a detailed oil analysis report with clear, actionable, maintenance recommendations. The MicroLab 43 includes the CoolCheck 2 for measuring coolant, the FDM 6000 for fuel dilution and the FerroCheck 2000 for measuring ferrous wear. This is really the ideal choice for taking care of all the equipment found on drill rigs. 

Historically rail fleets were one of the first users of oil analysis for reliability. Oil analysis for predictive monitoring was first used by the US railroad industry to monitor the health of locomotives. In 1946 the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad's research laboratory successfully detected diesel engine problems through wear metal analysis of used oils. This practice continues to this day.