FUELS & OILS
Fuel Charter (WFC) 2019 and most OEMs suggest a
fuel cleanliness level of 18/16/13 as per ISO 4406
from the fuel station nozzle into the equipment’s
fuel tank.”
Thereafter the on-board fuel filtration system
has a chance of filtering the fuel to the desired
cleanliness level at the injectors. Cummins Inc
suggest in their service bulletin 3379001 that if
the fuel does not meet the ISO cleanliness code of
18/16/13 then additional filtration must be applied
before the fuel is delivered to the equipment's fuel
tank. In addition to ISO 4406 fuel cleanliness code
requirements, it may come to pass that OEMs
stipulate a minimum mass (milligram) of
particulates per litre of fuel. “Engine and injector
designs are changing to meet more stringent
emission standards. The progression to engines
requiring higher fuel pressures achieved through
tighter tolerances has further highlighted the need
for filtration to remove small particulate
contaminants so as to prevent injector and pump
wear. The unwanted particulates in diesel fuel can
serve to increase fuel pump wear. In addition, due
to the high fuel pressures, these particulates can
act as a projectile within the fuel system leading
to increased injector nozzle wear resulting in
reduced combustion efficiency.”
Failure to support and maintain good
housekeeping practices on fuel products will
ultimately result in diesel engines encountering
fuel distribution system problems. Frequently,
improvements in fuel cleanliness can result in the
following benefits: extended component life,
improvements in fuel economy, increase in engine
power and reduction in emissions. As fuel
contamination levels decrease, the planned
“runtime to end of pump and injector life”
increases dramatically.
Filtration of diesel fuels will require careful
balancing between the cost of removing
contaminants during the fuel distribution process
and the cost of achieving the required cleanliness
levels at dispensing as stipulated by OEMs, as
well as the costs involved with servicing and lost
production as a result of injector and pump
failures from particulate contamination. Simple
house-keeping practices such as use of effective
and efficient breathers and daily water drain off
procedures of bulk fuel tanks will also assist.
Other options may include infrastructure changes
on bulk tanks to include floating suctions to avoid
sucking diesel fuel at or near the bottom of the
bulk fuel tank, use of receiving vessels to allow
adequate settling time, and use of kidney loop
filtration. Similarly, for oil-lubricated
compartments, component life can also be
increased as a result of improving lubricant
cleanliness.
Contamination is also often overlooked when
considering why premature failure occurred or
why lubricant life has been diminished. “The two
primary external contaminants of oil are dirt
(environmental dust) and moisture. If the
atmosphere within which equipment is working is
contaminated, then there is every chance that the
oil within the equipment is also contaminated.
Particulate contamination inside an operating
system will speedup wear generation which only
exacerbates or compounds the situation, that is,
wear generates wear. These contaminants and
wear metals only serve to damage or prematurely
wear working parts within a component and act as
catalysts in degrading the lubricant through
oxidative processes. These contaminants that
prematurely wear and reduce equipment reliability
can in fact be successfully controlled and
managed with improved storage and dispensing of
lubricants including improved preventative
maintenance techniques. The best way to reduce
contaminants from the equipment system is to
lessen, or even better, avoid the practices that
introduce these contaminants into the system in
the first instance.”
The processes of cleanliness and cleanliness
control may initiate with the OEM referenced
cleanliness levels for lubricants to be delivered by
the lubricant provider either in bulk or in delivered
packaged drum, pail or Intermediate Bulk
Containers (IBC). “Even so, there is often one key
criterion overlooked when stipulating a desired
delivered cleanliness level and that is the
technique for determining the cleanliness code.”
Cleanliness tests can be performed using several
techniques such as Light Blockage Automatic
Particle Counter (APC), Pore Blockage Technique
and cleanliness determination from Filter Patch
tests, each testing method coming with its pros
and cons. “Regardless of the testing technique or
method utilised, the test results all refer back to
the ISO 4406 cleanliness table for cleanliness
code determination. Most oil analysis service
providers would ‘default’ to the APC.
Unfortunately, this method can have limitations,
the main one being that the instrument (generally)
cannot determine the type of particle be it water
droplets, additives, air or
particulates. This can
‘falsely inflate’ the
cleanliness ratings of the
tested lubricant
especially in the 4-and 6-
micron range, sometimes
by as much as 5
cleanliness code ratings,
meaning that often incorrect conclusions are made
that the lubricant is ‘dirty’ based on the high ISO
cleanliness code determined.”
Finally, the assumption that the more one filters
the lubricant, the more savings one will achieve
can be falsely guided, argues Total. High Beta
ratings at very low absolute micron value levels
may have the reverse affect and result in some
vital additive(s) being removed from the lubricant,
thereby affecting lubricant performance. “The
benefits of sound contamination control in
lubricants will extend the life of lubricated
equipment and reduce maintenance costs through
unplanned and premature failures. Establishing
cleanliness targets and measuring performance
against these benchmark targets is often a first
step and may assist maintenance professionals to
quantify potential savings. However, there needs
to be a balance between setting realistic and
manageable cleanliness targets that deliver real
value to the business as opposed to increased
filtration costs for the sole purpose of achieving
idealistic and unjustified cleanliness levels with
improperly devised value determination.”
Plug and play fixed storage
The new isoPOD range from Australia’s Lubrication
Engineering Pty Ltd provides a purpose built,
portable, plug and play lubrication storage and
dispensing system designed for both internal and
external dispensing of lubricants typically used in
the maintenance or servicing of critical fixed plant
or mobile assets in mining. Standard features of
the isoPOD range include oil dispensing from
standard 1,000 litre IBCs or 205 litre drums and
grease dispensing from 180 kg drums; ISO
shipping container lockdown points, crane lifting
lugs and forklift channels; heavy duty, lockable
equipment access doors with separate service
staff doors and high quality, pneumatic pumps
and premium oil filtration.
Built in accordance with AS1940-2017, the
company says the isoPOD “will ensure your
lubricants are stored in a clean, easy to use and
safe manner.” The four main variants are the i10
isoPOD™ and the larger i20 isoPOD™ for internal
dispensing of lubricants into small portable
containers typically used in the maintenance or
top-up of critical assets and on-site machinery and
the e10 isoPOD™ and e20 isoPOD™ designed
specifically for external dispensing of lubricants
directly into critical assets and on-site
machinery through the use
of integrated hose
reels.
The new
isoPOD range from
Australia’s Lubrication
Engineering provides a purpose built, portable,
plug and play lubrication storage and
dispensing system designed for both internal
and external dispensing of lubricants
32 International Mining | JULY/AUGUST 2020