www.machinerylubrication.com
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September - October 2017
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turbine oil and then put it back into a drum
that hasn't been properly cleaned. The same
goes for putting new turbine oil into an
already contaminated system. By doing so,
the antioxidants will be attracted to these
byproducts and be rendered useless before
even being put into service.
Replacing each drum will save you time
and energy. The process of cleaning an oil
that has already led to a varnish problem can
be labor-intensive and very time-consuming.
Reconditioning used drums will not be easy,
but it can be done. A number of systems on
the market target varnish. The problem is
that every drum will need to go through this
cleaning process, which will take a significant
amount of time.
Other factors that should play into your
decision of which cleaning process to use
include the type of failure that occurred
within the lube oil, the type of varnish that
is present and the equipment that is at your
disposal. The process may be as simple as a
wand flush using a filter cart or filtering the
oil within the drum through an electrostatic
process. Either way, it will be a slow process.
The best and most economical solution
would be to use a larger container for trans-
porting and cleaning. Larger containers allow
you to filter the oil in the container while
minimizing handling. This will eliminate the
time involved transferring the oil from a
55-gallon drum to a larger container for
filtering and reduce the environmental, health
and safety risks. While this may not be the
most cost-effective option at the front end of
the project, it will yield considerable benefits
in the long term.
If you have a question for one of Noria's experts,
email it to editor@noria.com.
