FUELS & OILS
Banlaw FillSafe™ Power Solution
n A simple pressureless tank filling solution that cannot be overridden. There is no way to overfill
original Caterpillar Diesel Fuel System Care advice
stated that: “90% of diesel troubles are due to dirt
or water in the fuel. For successful operation it is
necessary that these impurities be kept out of
fuel.”
tanks when the actuated valve is closed
n Bright LED indicators at the fill point show operators whether a tank is already full, or that it is able
to be filled
n A bank of controllers at the fill point ensures safe filling for any number of fluid types
n Systems can be engineered to cater for any flow and any fluid. It works perfectly for service fluids
at low fill rates and diesel fuel at very high/efficient flow rates
n Suitable for oils, coolant, AdBlue, diesel, and all other liquids
n Can be used with oil couplings, dry break refuelling equipment, camlocks and other fluid transfer
fittings of all makes
n Includes none of the mechanical parts or pneumatic components inside the tank, which often fail
from the rigors of day-to-day mine site operation
n Level switches have built-in redundancy and can be manufactured with up to five pre-set fill levels
which can be selected with a key switch
n Actuated valves are closed automatically at the appropriate fill level for each fluid storage,
stopping tanks from overfilling
n Ball valves are maintained in a closed position when not filling to avoid potential spills
n The FillSafe Power Controller has built-in visual alarm warnings should the system identify a
malfunction in any of the major system components
n Banlaw FillSafe™ Power is simple to install on site using standard Banlaw products and following
simple guidelines
This statement was chronicled in 1931 but
global fuel and lubricants major Total argues
remains as applicable today (if not more so) for
technologically advanced engines. “High Pressure
Common Rail (HPCR) fuel systems require even
more stringent fuel cleanliness levels. This is due
to the increased sensitivity of these systems to
small particulate contaminants especially under
very high pressures of up to 2,500 bar. The World
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
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | International Mining