Electro-Chemical Purification of Hydraulic Pump Power Oils

Abstract The first commercial application of a new process for the purification of power oils has been in operation for a period of two years at production facilities operated by Long Beach Oil Development company. Evidence for the success of this installation is summarized in analytical data regarding the removal of water, particulate matter and water-soluble particulate matter and water-soluble salts from the make-up oil to the closed power oil system. of more interest is the sustained performance of the system itself - there has been a 50% decline in make-up oil requirement and a 70% reduction in engine repair costs since installation of the new process. process. Data from the precursory laboratory tests, the semi-works scale field prototype, and the commercial (1,500 B/D) prototype, and the commercial (1,500 B/D) installation are presented; of special interest is the information on the particle-size distributions of the particle-size distributions of the particulate matter in the oil. Detailed particulate matter in the oil. Detailed descriptions of the performance of the system, before and after the installation of the power oil treater, are included as are daily logs of the critical system parameters. Information comparing the parameters. Information comparing the performance of this new process with performance of this new process with those previously employed to remove impurities from power oils is also summarized. Introduction Erosion and wear of down-hole engine parts are often attributed to the presence of finely divided particulate matter present in the particulate matter present in the power fluid. Unfortunately, there power fluid. Unfortunately, there is relatively little information available regarding the nature of these solids or of correlations between their properties and engine maintenance. Although it seems desirable to remove the abrasive materials, there are few guide lines regarding design and performance of various systems which performance of various systems which could be used to clean these solids from power fluids or of the maintenance cost reductions which can be expected from such removal. The paper presented by Phelan before paper presented by Phelan before the 1953 Fall Meeting summarizes previously available information. previously available information.