MACHINERY LUBRICATION- INDIA MARCH-APRIL 2020 | Page 22

Manoj Srivastava
WHAT IF..?
You Observe
Water in Lubricant
Container
As lubricant professionals (whether
manufacturer or a trader), we come
across a very common complaint from
our clients i.e. presence of water in oil
packages.
Before going into analysis, let me share
few of the visit reports in short. It is a
mere coincidence that all these examples
are for 200 litre drums.
Visit at customer-1
showed us that oil is
dispensed from the
drum into a mineral
water bottle, this is then
taken to point of
lubrication. No one was
willing to vouch for the bottle to be free
of water before oil is transferred into it.
Visit at customer-2
showed the oil drum
to be stacked in open.
We noticed presence
of cotton waste on
top of drum and we
saw
rainbow
diffraction
pattern
when sunlight was
reflected from top surface. These were
enough to hint presence of water on top
of drum before being dispensed – must
have been cleaned just before our visit.
Visit at customer-3, showed that oil
drum was stored in a small warehouse.
The drums (with open bungs and a
20 | March - April 2020 |
funnel in the bung hole) were lying
adjacent to window, which had no
panes. Being monsoon season, it was
not too difficult to deduce that rain
water must have entered the drum
through funnel + bung hole.
Visit at customer-4, showed drums
stored in open. The drum had few
millimeters of water on top of drum.
The drums were sealed that is to say
that our company seal-cap was intact.
But, interestingly, we noticed bubbles
escaping from the larger bung from one
of the drums. Obviously the water must
have gone inside.
These examples seem to suggest that all
mistakes happened only at customer’s
end due to their fault. However, this is
not the whole story. Let us try to analyze
the entire flow:
i) Upstream: before process happens
ii) Process: manufacturing and filling/
packing at factory
iii) Downstream: After the goods leave
the factory premises.
www.machinerylubricationindia.com
We had come across an incident which
falls under step i) – empty drum is a
packaging material supplied by vendor
to factory. While regular “incoming
inspection” was being carried, water
droplets were noticed inside some of
the drum. Needless to say, it was rainy
season and the drums were kept in open
(uncovered) before being dispatched to
our factory. After this incident, we had
given instruction to the vendor:
 Bungs to be tightened on drums
immediately after manufacturing at
vendor’s end.
 In case it is to be stored, the drums
should either be stored in covered
warehouse or covered by tarpaulin/
plastic sheet, if stored in open
 While transporting to our factory
the drums should be kept upside
down
Step ii) – probability of water entering
the product in lube plant is zero. Here it
is presumed that the factory is standard
one of reputed brand. The usual
manufacturing
practice
involves
product being tested by QC before
filling. And the filling/ packaging are
done through pipeline and pumps etc.
Barring unforeseeable circumstances,
there is no chance of water entering the
product. Also, the warehousing within
the factories is usually covered so there
is no chance of rainwater finding ingress
into the product. We used to organize
plant visits especially for big clients and