"Super oil" in mining industry.

[Simon TR4a]

A friend and neighbour of mine worked for several years for a company which operated mines and leased mining equipment. Recently he told me an iteresting story.
Down a mine is usually a HUGE diesel engine, like a marine diesel for a ship. This is used to pump out water, generate electricity for lights, provide ventilation and compressed air for jackhammers etc.
These things run day and night, as mines usually operate 3 shifts; its dark down there anyway, so who cares if they are on night shift? Since they run continuously you cannot change the oil, and a special oil is used, guaranteed to last 10 years without being changed. If the big diesel breaks down or has to be stopped for maintenance, the oil company will compensate the mine operator $100,000 per day until the problem is solved.

The oil comes in 44 gallon drums and cost something like $17,000 per drum! My friend suspects it is just a specially formulated synthetic oil, and the price is basically an insurance policy; not really the cost of the oil!
An interesting industry.
Simon.

 

[JamesWilson]

[ QUOTE ]
Since they run continuously you cannot change the oil, and a special oil is used, guaranteed to last 10 years without being changed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have thought some "top up" schedule to maintain levels could be put in place. And wouldn't changing the filter be more important? An external filter with a "tap" would make it simple and easy, not just to change the filter but the oil too. Just keep pouring it in till it runs clean.

And a glass oil pan could let the level and cleanliness be checked too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

Besides, they must have done something like this in the bad old days before long-life synthetic oils....

 

[Leavitt]

When I worked in mining a couple of years ago, we quit changing the oil on most of the heavy equipment monitoring for wear metals in the oil and only changing the filters. With the large engines, the tolerances are so great, that during a normal maintenance interval sufficent oil is burned, that the engines essentially change their own.

 

[lawguy]

When you run something continuously, there is only a small fraction of the wear or running it intermitently.

 

[tony barnhill]

The Army stopped changing oil on its vehicles a long time ago...they just pull a sample, send it to the lab & let it tell them what to do...found out that the sample could tell all kinds of things about the engine wear & when the oil really started breaking down.....saved lots of money!

There are labs that'll do the same for our cars - at about $30 a pop....but if it stretches oil changes, it might be worth it.

 

[kennypinkerton]

Hmmmm... I bought 12 quarts of Castrol 20W50 at Advance last week for about $23... Throw in a couple filters ($10?), and I've changed 2 cars' oil for the same price as the test... I think I'll stick with oil changes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

Where its worth it is when the engine's getting tired - the oil analysis will tell you where your problems are.

 

[kennypinkerton]

Just me, but here goes again...

If'n you've paid attention to the car while driving it, You'll already know where the problem areas are....

Like I said, Most car's let you know what's wrong with them long before it becomes catastrauphic, but alot of people these days don't listen to what their cars are saying.

I say change the oil, and learn to listen to your car.

My 2¢ worth.

 

[DrEntropy]

That's the "Simpatico With th' Equipment" I keep goin' on about. If someone comes over with a problem and we perform some "fix" the first thing they want ME to do after is to drive the thing.... "No, I don't have ANY idea how it's s'posed to be. YOU drive it and report back: I wouldn't know if it's better or worse. It's not my car, I don't speak Japanese." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

 

[angelfj1]

Is it possible that someone is pulling your leg? I've been supporting mining electrical systems for many years, including a close association with Caterpillar. I have never heard of such a thing. Most of the systems I am familiar with NEVER rely on the diesel engine set as primary power. The deep pit type mines use a power source from the surface, generally 480-volt , but sometimes higher like 4160 or 13,800 and they use one or more back up diesel sets with auto-transfer switches. If they lose primary source of power, the diesel starts up and the transfer switch transfers power to the gen set. During the brief transition 10 - 20 seconds, critical loads and lighting come off a UPS. The large UPS systems can be up to 750 kVA. Depending on the location, for example in the USA, MSHA requires regular engine-generator set testing, under load. Although violations are not common, if they are cited it can be expensive. Anything mechanical eventually requires maintenance. Simply variations in electrical load and the impact of motors starting and stopping would eventually require mechanical overhaul. Magic oil? IMHO, no.