By Ron Marshall for the Compressed Air Challenge
A food products company used lubricated screw compressors to feed the process machines in their plant. The compressors contained food grade lubricant because some of the compressed air came in contact with the product.
The lubricant is an important item within the compressor, acting as a lubricant, a coolant, a medium to capture contaminants and water, and a method to seal the gap between the screw elements. Lubricated screw compressors rely on an oil separator to filter the compressor lubricant from the stream of compressed air produced by the screw element. This separator, when working properly, will filter all but a few parts per million of oil particles. The remaining lubricant must be removed by downstream components.
The food products company maintained a tight maintenance budget and minimal staff to save costs. As a result, the recommended maintenance frequency of lubricant and filters were not followed for their air compressors. Due to neglect, there was a catastrophic failure of one of the oil separators in their oldest compressor. When this happened, the air compressor emptied its complete supply of lubricant into the system.
It turns out the installation budget was also tight when the compressed air equipment was installed. There were no receiver tanks or filters with large capacity, nor high capacity drains to capture the lubricant release. Thus, downstream filters, air dryers and piping became contaminated by the lubricant release. Production was down for many days while all the components were flushed—costing the company a fortune.
Needless to say, this event finally persuaded the company management to spend some additional money upgrade their system and install adequate components to guard against future occurrences. While they were at it, they installed more efficient compressors, large storage, efficient filters and drains and significantly dropped their operating costs, much of which qualified for a substantial incentive from their power company. Now the company can afford regular maintenance of their equipment.
Learn more about compressor efficiency in our next Compressed Air Challenge seminar in your area. Visit www.compressedairchallenge.org for more information.
Weverbergh says
Hi,
When oil lubricated compressors are used in the food or pharmaceutical industry, it’s possible to produce oil-free compressed air by installing a catalytic converter.
Also the residual oil content can be measured online.
If you like to receive any further information, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best regards.
Xavier Weverbergh
William K. says
Sometimes it is difficult or impossible to convince those controlling spending that some items are not optional. My guess is that an adequate description of exactly what would happen if proper service was not done could have been convincing. I have given just exactly that kind of reports to customers on a number of occasions, which often resulted in both purchase orders and “thanks for the tip” comments. Many times cheaper is not less expensive.