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The Dollars and Sense of Fluid Cleanliness

Thu, Apr. 08, 2021

The Dollars and Sense of Fluid Cleanliness

The old phrase will always stand true, "A penny saved is a penny earned." When it comes to businesses and their pennies, every penny counts. When problems during the production and manufacturing process are fixed, people will say "pennies well spent." So, if pennies are so important, then what about dollars? What about thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars? What about millions of dollars? In today's production and manufacturing economy, these kinds of numbers are game-changing.

Unforeseen Downtime and Costs

When companies have unforeseen downtime and costs adding up to these kinds of numbers, it's no longer pennies, it becomes sense; a sense that there is a problem and that it needs to be fixed immediately. Therefore, when a paper manufacturing facility came to Hy-Pro with a problem that was costing them thousands of dollars weekly, we immediately started working on a solution.

Finding the Problem: Battered Bearings 

Our team, led by Mike Flick, quickly found that the boiler feed water pump bearing lube system was combined with the facility's steam turbine lube oil system. The water, freestanding, dissolved and emulsified, as well as the particulate contamination it was bringing with it, were decreasing the fluid's ability to lubricate the bearings, in turn, causing premature wear on the bearings.

It was this problem that forced the facility to spend thousands of dollars weekly on labor, oil replacement and water absorbing filters. Unfortunately, the rate of water and particulate immersion was just too high for them to avoid the inevitable. With the continued degradation to the bearings, it was feared the facility would soon face unforeseen downtime, with a system shutdown, and a possible bearing replacement, which could cost the facility over $14 million.

Hy-Pro's Lasting Solution: A V1 Compact Vacuum Dehydrator 

However, a certain and proven solution was created with the introduction and installation of the Hy-Pro V1 Compact Vacuum Dehydrator. The facility was able to remove the freestanding, dissolved, and emulsified water along with particulate contamination, bringing water levels within the oil from 2,440 ppm to just 70 ppm.

The lubricating properties of the oil were restored and the premature bearing replacement was avoided. Thus, ending the cycle of throwing thousands of dollars weekly into unnecessary oil replacement, below quality standard filtration, and the labor associated with both. Ensuring a longer than average life of the boiler water feed pump bearing, and the peace of mind that came with the solutions provided by Hy-Pro that saved the facility millions of dollars. The pennies that were spent counted, and the pennies saved were earned.

Check out another Hy-Pro water removal success story here

If you would like to learn more about Hy-Pro's other water removal methods click here. 

Maybe you or your customers think there is no water in your oil, watch this to learn the truth. 

For any questions, comments, or if you would like to suggest more topics you would like to learn more about, reach out to us at info@hyprofiltration.com. 

Written by Brad Bainbridge

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