Enhanced nitration control natural gas engine oil

Tag : Natural Gas Valve

Our Sentron brand has always stood out as one of the highestquality oils available, and the addition of Sentron 590 is yetanother testament to our commitment to providing customers withquality lubricants and tangible savings solutions".
Sentron 590 has undergone comprehensive testing, including fieldtrials in seven Caterpillar 3300 turbocharged and naturallyaspirated natural gas engines used in gas gathering operations inAthabasca, Alberta.
These engines were chosen because of their short oil life usingtypical oils, and varied age, load, geographic location, and fuelgas.
The collective field trials validated the performance of Sentron590 and the results were quite impressive.
All engines continued to have excellent oil consumption and wearmetal control and, in general, average drain intervals weresubstantially extended.
Nitration range in a natural gas engine can be monitored by way ofFourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurement - a standard test fornatural gas engine oils.
The acceptable limit for nitration is set in terms of absorbanceunits in the FTIR spectrum.
In order to avoid damage to a typical (North American-made) naturalgas engine, the oil should be changed when Fourier TransformInfrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) reaches 25 absorbance units percentimetre.
However, when rapid nitration is taking place the life of the oilis shortened which leads to frequent drain intervals and downtime.
Sentron 590 performed extremely well in the field trials, extendingdrain intervals considerably, using the same nitration limit.
"In the Caterpillar 3300 engines trialled, the used oil nitrationlimit is a maximum of 25 absorbance units per centimetre.
A typical oil would last between 500 and 1,000 hours against thislimit," explains Nick Moat, R + D Specialist, Natural Gas EngineOils, Petro-Canada.
Routine maintenance for these engines takes place at approximatelyevery 2,100 hours, including belt and valve lash adjustment andspark plug regapping.
Oil is normally changed at the same time.
"Unfortunately for the engine operator, oils currently on themarket have never been able to last three months due to lack ofnitration control.
This forced extra visits to the engines, as often as every month.
But with Sentron 590, and by following Petro-Canada's engineoptimisation recommendations, the customer can expect all oilchanges to coincide with regular maintenance shutdowns, atapproximately 2,100 hours," says Moat.