Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/359954
46 | July - August 2014 | www.machinerylubrication.com ML GET TO K NOw Q: How did you get your start in machinery lubrication? A: I started working in machinery lubrication about six months into this position. I was asked by my supervisor, the maintenance manager, to start investigating our lubrication failures and how we could improve our lube oils. We were having a lot of machinery failures, and we needed a solution. Q: what types of training have you taken to get you to your current position? A: I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. While employed with Sinclair, I attended machinery lubrication and oil analysis courses provided by Noria Corporation. I have also had training in vibration analysis, gear technology and maintenance, steam turbine maintenance, and safe bolting principles. Q: what professional certifications have you attained? A: I am certified as a Level I Machine Lubrication Technician, Level I Machine Lubricant Analyst, Category II Vibration Analyst, Level I Reciprocating Compressor Analyst and Certified SolidWorks Asso- ciate. I also have achieved certification in safe bolting principles and practices and in reliability-centered maintenance. Q: Are you planning to obtain additional training or achieve higher certifications? A: I plan on achieving the highest level of certifications in oil anal- ysis, machinery lubrication and vibration analysis. I also plan to work on getting my master's degree in mechanical engineering in the near future. Q: what's a normal work day like for you? A: It is normal to have multiple issues or items from day to day. A work day might consist of interpreting oil analysis and submitting work requests to fix and investigate any problems. I also maintain our laboratory information management system for oil analysis and manage lubrication projects such as oil mist installations, sample valve installations, equipment modifications and equip- ment installations. In addition, I may go out to troubleshoot any lubrication and filtration issues or assist in troubleshooting vibra- tion issues that occur in the plant. Q: what is the amount and range of equipment that you help service through lubrication/oil analysis tasks? A: Through oil analysis, we monitor nearly 120 assets and help in troubleshooting all other equipment in the plant. However, with vibration analysis, we monitor all plant equipment — 2,700 assets — including centrifugal pumps, reciprocating pumps, centrifugal compressors, reciprocating compressors, gearboxes, crushers, drill stems, diesel and gasoline engines, hydraulic systems, steam Lubrication Program Yields Fewer Machine Failures For Sinclair's McNees in just two short yEars as thE maintEnancE EnginEEr for thE sinclair wyoming refining co., jon mcnees has seen significant changes at his refinery. Previously, sinclair struggled to keep machinery running. there were equipment failures on a daily basis. when a vibration program was implemented, the failures decreased dramatically, as issues were discovered before a failure occurred. however, mcnees and the refinery wanted to get to the root of the problem to further reduce failures, not just detect them at an early stage. the implementation of a lubrication program solved many of the issues that were causing the equipment failures. now machinery runs longer, failures happen less frequently and the root causes are fixed before they become bigger problems. Name: Jon McNees Age: 26 Title: Maintenance Engineer Length of Service: 2 years Company: Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. Location: Sinclair, Wyo.