Efficient Plant Jan./Feb. 2024 - 19

feature | lubrication solutions
that the company owners want to change the oil at 250 hr.
He also said that most all analysis results come back good so he realizes
they could extend the drains. When asked if I could see some results, I
noted that TBN (total base number), which indicates lubricant alkalinity
reserve, was not being tested. Th at led to an explanation of the value
of TBN testing, how it relates to oil life, and that without it he actually
has no practical knowledge of the oil's life. He said the analysis was free.
Obviously the oil vendor is happy as well as the equipment owners.
Sometimes the power of two is less than one! EP
A well-organized and operated lubrication program will result in effi cient
asset operation and maximum drain intervals.
he made over the years and the results the plant experienced (some gearboxes
have had the same oil in them for more than 15 years). Now, he
simply states that they don't really need " that drum " of lubricant (which
is procured every three to four years) and that they can go back to how
things operated before he got there. Of course, this leads to the question
of how things were and he states that gearboxes were changed annually, if
not sooner; downtime, planned and unplanned, was exponentially higher;
and waste-oil generation was three to four drums annually. He also
points out that they would have to hire another maintenance technician.
Each time the subject is dropped and the PO approved immediately.
Th en there's the power of one displayed in another way. A large municipal
wastewater plant embraced best practices and condition monitoring
of their 16 mechanical aerator gearboxes. When the city hired a new purchasing
agent, some of the gearboxes had the same oil in them for four
years. When the plant manager made his fi rst request for a drum of " that
expensive oil, " he was questioned by the purchasing agent and directed to
go back to changing the oil annually in the gearboxes and buy the lowestcost
oil they could fi nd.
You have the power of one. Assuming you are close to the machines
and, of course, familiar with the various best practices advocated by
vendors and educators with regard to benchmarking a superior lubrication-management
program, you then become the knowledge sharer, the
one who educates others as to how things should be done to best care for
assets. Th at, of course, can mean undoing old ways or perhaps trying, as I
did at a large quarry.
Th e quarry uses several haul trucks, wheel loaders, excavators,
crushers, and screeners in their operation. When asked about the current
engine oil-drain interval in this equipment, the manager responded with
250 hours. I asked him if they used oil analysis and he told me they did. I
asked why they didn't adhere to the 500-hr. drain intervals generally recommended
by heavy-equipment manufacturers today and he responded
JAN/FEB 2024
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 19
Dave Piangerelli CLS, OMA MLTII MLA, is President of Lubrication Technologies
Inc., West Springfi eld, MA (lubetechnologies.com). He has worked for
more than 45 years to help plant operators improve their lubrication practices.
You can reach him at dfp@lubetechnologies.com
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Efficient Plant Jan./Feb. 2024

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