Plant Lubrication

Abstract

The correct lubrication of plant equipment is an important factor in sustaining production with reduced equipment outage and lower maintenance costs. A well planned and coordinated lubrication program is a necessary prerequisite for any preventive maintenance program that may be established by a production plant. This paper deals largely with applied lubrication in the petro-chemical industry, including turbomachinery. Many of the comments expressed are based on personal experience by the author on equipment operating in a chemical complex on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Many procedures and approaches to plant lubrication are discussed, including the initiation of a computer assisted lubrication program, sampling and testing oil from critical machinery and specific procedures to apply lubricants to a variety of process machinery, including constant level oilers, electric motors and grease lubricated couplings. Special emphasis is made on the prevention of water and process gasses as contaminants in oil systems on turbomachinery.