by Kailey Reekie, Account Manager
The summer months are always busy time for oil and gas industries, but especially this year in North America as the demand for oil has, and will, continue to increase in the next few months. Maintenance and planning will be key this spring so that your assets are ready for an intense season!
With the demand for resources higher, companies will be pushed to increase output with the same machinery. Utilizing technology to maintain the integrity of your assets through harsher conditions will be a key strategy. As an example of how technology can assist with spring maintenance, let’s dial into a specific area: drilling rig lubrication.
Let’s review some common lubrication issues to monitor for and examples of tests to help identify them.
Wear Metal Contamination
Starting with a baseline oil analysis sample, doing routine analysis monitors for any abnormalities in the “health” of your lubricating oil. Routine analysis can also trigger a deeper look at anomalies in rig lubricating oil condition. For example, hydraulic systems have tight clearances and require clean oil to run smoothly. Even a small amount of wear debris contamination can be a problem. If your metal contamination levels from a routine sample come back with a high or abnormal result, you could use Analytical Ferrography or SEM-EDS Analysis to pinpoint, what, how much, and where this debris could be coming from. Using tests such as these, you see the morphology of the particle, and the type of wear that is occurring.
Non-Metallic Contamination
For rigs, it is not just the metallic particles to be concerned with, but also the non-metallic particles from dirt and dust-silicas (as seen below). Silicates make up a good portion of what we are drilling into, as they make up roughly 90% of the earth’s crust. Silicates are very abrasive to softer metals such as copper, lead, and aluminum. Even harder metals like steel can still be worn from silica particles entrapped in your lubrication fluids. Think: sandblasting. Using tests such as Analytical Ferrography, ISO Particle Count and SEM-EDS Analysis can help to identify the types and volume of non-metallic contamination particles that are present in the fluid. Making sure you have adequate filtration, and breathers to keep these particles out is key, and utilizing filter analysis (SEM-EDS) allows you to see how much you have in your system.
Vibration
With industry focus on predicative or condition-based maintenance having real time data is very useful for failure prognosis. Due to the nature of drilling, vibration is a very important aspect of maintenance. Accelerometers can be attached to components like top drives where torsional vibrations are of concern. Vibration frequencies can be used to analyze the type of abnormality, and how severe.
Fluid Life offers many testing and reliability project options to assist you with your maintenance programs. Contact your Account Manager or our Reliability Specialists today to learn more about these options.