Minimac Technology
The secret recipe of the growth story at Minimac Systems has been its capability to drive technological advancement in the field of contamination control for lubrication reliability. Research and development on technology and products have always been the key reason to keep the Minimac products a step ahead of its competitors in the market. Technological development has been one of the core competencies which Minimac possesses, thereby ensuring a definite competitive advantage.
Contaminations in lubricants are of various types and characteristics depending on the lubricant, equipment application, ambient conditions, age of equipment, etc. In order to control, separate or eliminate the contamination, there are multiple techniques. Each technique has pros and cons and hence there is no single technology that can be considered universally better than others.
Minimac Systems over the years has become equipped with almost all the technologies which are required for contamination control in lubricants. As a part of its sustainability strategy, the company focuses on the fast development of future technologies based on the dynamism of the industry and the anticipated changes.
The products and services offered by the company are mentioned below.
Stage Wise Mechanical Filtration
High-efficiency filters are used in reducing solid contamination. Whenever an oil batch is cleaned, there would be particles of various sizes.
The first stage is the largest micron rating i.e 50 microns or 25 microns. The second stage could be a medium-sized micron rating maybe 10 or 16 or 20 microns and the final one, the polishing filter stage could be 6, 3, or 1 micron. The decision of micron rating depends on the kind of oil, level of dirt present in the oil, and the application where this equipment is used.
The efficiency of these filters ensures faster oil cleaning. It's very essential to select the micron ratings in an appropriate manner and use the equipment as per the instructions of the manufacturer. Avoiding it might result in a drastic increment of filter consumptions.
Always remember, the efficiency of the filter is related to the beta factor.
Low Vacuum Dehydration
This technique is used for the removal of moisture content from the oil which is present in three forms:
1) Dissolved
2) Emulsified
3) Freeform
The technology revolves around the fact that the water boiling point is 100℃ when the vapor pressure above the water surface is atmospheric pressure. But when we reduce the vapor pressure to a vacuum condition say 750 torrs, it's evident that the boiling point of water reduces from 100℃ to 60℃.
Under this technique, there is a vacuumized chamber and a shower arrangement for the oil (mixed with moisture). There is a heater arrangement that heats up the oil under controlled temperature settings of a maximum of 60℃ when the heated oil is showered inside the vacuum chamber which is controlled at 750 torr vacuum, moisture particles would be evaporated or vaporized under the vacuumized conditions thereby separating the moisture from the oil. Clean oil is collected at the bottom of the chamber and delivered into the system using a delivery power.
This technique is quite popular and it is the latest. It's better than the previous techniques of centrifuging, coalescing, and moisture absorption because of the very reason that:
(i) it removes all three forms of moisture
(ii) it does not involve any consumables or costly spares because of rotating parts.
Check out our video, to know the working of the Low Vacuum Dehydration System.
Electrostatic Fluid Cleaning
This calls for electrostatically charged electrodes inside a water bath.
It is a known fact that all foreign particles carry some charge. While we create positive and negative electrodes on the oil bath, the foreign particles which are negatively charged would be attracted towards the positively charged electrode and vice-versa. Thereby, after some interval of oil passage, the particles would be attracted towards the respective oppositely charged electrode and separation of particles happen.
It’s also to be noted that this technology fails whenever motion is present above 500 ppm in the oil. Because under such circumstances the electrolyte solution (oil to be purified) becomes a conductive media and there would be no electrolytic charge present on the electrodes.
Electrostatic Lube Cleaner is the equipment that we offer that works on Electrostatic Fluid Cleaning technology.
Dry Inert Gas Blanketing
This technique talks about the creation of an inert gas blanket in the header space of oil tanks.
It has been seen that the header space of oil tanks especially in the coastal areas is full of humid air. This humidity is the biggest concern for oil oxidation and degradation. Hence, dry inert gas blanketing technology enables us to create a dry environment in the header space of these tanks. Having an inert gas ensures the absence of oxygen which would be the key element for oxidation and oil degradation.
This technique has enabled the number of governing systems, lube oil systems in the coastal regions and they help them to reduce the problems of oil oxidation and degradation.
TAN Reduction by Ion Exchange
This is a technology that is used for the reduction of TAN (Total Acid Number) value in the oil. TAN value is an indication of total acidity formed in the oil which leads to an understanding of oil degradation.
If we analyze the oil chemistry, there would be an understanding that oil degrades and forms carbonic acids and carboxylic acid groups. These lead to a condition where the oil is no more lubricating and it loses its basic properties. Hence, it is very important to maintain the TAN value within manufacturer subscribed limits.
The technology of ion exchange is talking about the passage of oil streams through vertical columns which are filled with appropriate anion resin or rather a WBA (Weak Base Anion). These resins attack the acid content in the oil stream, absorb them and separate out the acid content from the oil stream. The selection of the resin is a key factor in the success of this technology. The most versatile or most popular implementation of this technology is for the FRF or EH oil used for the governing system or the control system of any turbine. It has been seen that FRF or EH oil is normally very costly and due to its hygroscopic nature, it catches moisture very fast thereby gets oxidized, degrades, and generates a lot of acid contents from within the chemistry of FRF.
The chemistry of FRF is a prostate ester. It differs for various manufacturers, but the degradation of all of these leads to the accumulation of the acid content in the oil. If the acid content goes beyond 0.2 mgKOH/gm, the oil is not fit for use. It may lead to several issues like wall failures, leakages, malfunctioning of the system thereby the chances of the entire power system going on a shutdown is at risk. The technology of TAN reduction by ion exchange (TRIX) has been very successful for the removal of the TAN value from the FRF. There have been multiple instances where the Minimac team has ensured a reduction of TAN value from 3.0 level to less than 0.2 level. We have more than 25 - 30 installations successfully running in the country for this technique.
Read our case study to know what actions Minimac took to bring down the TAN and NAS value for one of our clients.
High-Velocity Flushing
This is a technique to clean pipelines, cavities, the internals of the components.
Turbulence in the pipelines is required. To create turbulence in a fluid, there is a factor called Reynolds Number which should be more than 4000. Minimac Systems designs and develops equipment that has the pumping capability, filtration as well as heating capability thereby creating turbulence inside the pipelines to be flushed. We ensure the optimum amount of oil flow, appropriate filtration levels, and controlled heating for the purpose of flushing.
The technology does not stop only for application on lube oil but can be extended for chemical cleaning, water-glycol flushing, water flushing, and hydraulic oil flushing. The key element for the right product offering depends on the requirement of the client and the diameter of the pipeline as well as the fluid which has to be used for flushing.
Check out our video, to know the range of equipment that Minimac offer in Oil Flushing.
Liquid-Liquid Coalescing
A technique used to separate vapors, liquids, soluble particles, or oil from some other fluid through a coalescing effect.
The coalescing effect is the coming together of liquid aerosols to form a larger whole which is easier to filter out of the system due to increased weight.
Phase separation of liquids using specific gravities.
Click below to know more about our Coalescer Separator System.
https://www.minimacsystems.com/coalescer-separator-system
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