We recently received a call from a rotating equipment engineer who was working at a refinery that produces high quality transportation fuels such as jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, and home heating oil.
The engineer was looking for a custom-built filtration system to filter oil from drums prior to use in an oil mist injection system. This oil mist was being used in a small system for lubricating bearings. The oil mist was carried by filtered air and deposited in the bearings, then returned to the reservoir, and then recirculated.
In this case the engineer needed the system to be installed where their fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) was located and he wanted to also look to apply this system in other areas of the refinery as well. The work area was classified as Class I, Div II, so the filtration system needed to be pneumatic-powered. Also, they were going to unload ISO 100 oil, so we needed to size the pump appropriately to handle this viscosity.
I worked with the engineer who marked up a photo (directly left) of our pre-existing electric-powered spin-on filter panel system and for his custom version he asked that we provide a ball valve as a kickback/relief so that the operator can run the pump while controlling the fill rate remotely via a valve at the equipment being filled.
The final set-up of the system (pictured top-left) included an aluminum double-diaphragm pump with a maximum flow rate of 35 GPM. The system also included all Viton seals on the pump and gaskets to seal the spin-on filters. The spin-on filters were used in a dual-stage set-up configuration, including a 6-micron spin-on filter followed by a water-absorbing spin-on filter. Take a look at the set-up at the refinery at this location (same picture above, at the top-left).
The customer found so much success with this system that they went on to purchase 7 additional units to be utilized throughout the refinery.
Do you have any questions or comments about oil filtration or about panel filter systems?
Does your company have any contaminated oil drums or tanks with which we can help?
Give us a call and ask to speak to either one of us directly!
Also you can send us an RFQ and mention this post.
— Sean, Engineering
— Bill, Technical Sales