Maximising Your Fluid Regime for Improved Performance
The condition of your thermal oil is critical to the performance, cost-effectiveness, safety and compliance of your thermal fluid system, and regular sampling and analysis is necessary in order to ensure that key criteria are met. But, that’s not all. A thorough understanding of how your system actually works is also vital.
Sampling and analysis
The frequency of sampling required varies from system to system, with those operating at higher temperatures typically needing to be tested most frequently, due to the greater rate of oil degradation.
When selecting the best laboratory to undertake your sampling, it is important to choose one capable of testing thermal oil both in terms of its performance as a heat transfer fluid and its safety.
You must also be aware that some providers may have vested interests that can result in inappropriate analysis. The default advice of equipment vendors is often to suggest that you purchase new equipment instead of treating your oil; alternatively, they may blame your oil rather than their equipment. Fluid suppliers can be too quick to suggest that you simply replace your oil.
Our own in-house laboratory will test your fluid against a range of appropriate critical indicators, such as viscosity, acidity, flashpoint, and carbon residue. We will then review the test results to help identify the cause of any issues and recommend the best remedial action. You can find out more here.
Understanding how your system works
Important as regular fluid sampling is to ensure that your thermal oil is kept in good condition, it is essentially a reactive monitoring method, and the process manufacturers who get the best out of their systems are those who understand how they actually work, as this influences heavily the quality of the oil.
They use their knowledge to ensure that they run their thermal fluid systems in such a way as to proactively protect the oil, so promoting peak operational performance.
TFS combines its expertise in both oil and systems to help customers to optimise system performance and safety. Our PACT (Professional Accreditation Compliance Team) Partner Programme was developed to enable process manufacturers to protect their assets and ensure production reliability while minimising the risk of fire and explosion.
‘Maximising Your Fluid Regime for Improved Performance’ was the subject of a recent webinar delivered by our managing director, Richard Franklin, and TFS America’s chief executive officer, Marc Gingras.
It was part of an ongoing online programme designed to help process manufacturers learn more about the ways in which they can minimise the risks associated with the operation of thermal fluid systems and also run them efficiently, cost-effectively, safely and with statutory compliance.
It can be viewed here, along with others in the series. New webinars will be taking place at regular intervals and are easily accessible by registering here, where you will also be able to see details of forthcoming events.
For further details, please visit www.thermalfluidsolutions.com/webinars/ or call 44(0)1298 815862 (UK) or +1 713 253 3272 (US)