Mirabella V is a sailing boat, but her generators run day and night and their oil is continuously refined.
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The traditional method of oil changing and particle filtration adopted by nearly all other pleasure vessels is not used on S/Y Mirabella V. The yacht is fitted with Puradyn filtration systems. We are all aware the need to prevent further environmental damage to our planet, but that is by no means the only reason that you would want to run the Puradyn setup.
Mirabella V is fitted with 2 different models of Puradyn. The main engines, with lube oil sumps of 100 ltrs, run the TF-240 Model with the electrically heated evaporation chamber. The main generator prime mover, with a sump of 40 litres, uses the smaller PFT-60 model. During the service of the main generators we change the lube oil filters, the coolant filters and the fuel oil filters and take a sample of the oil. We also change the Puradyn filter and associated O-rings. We DO NOT change the oil, we just top it up and bring the generator back on line.
If Mirabella V were not fitted with the Puradyn system, we would have to change the oil and dump the 40 litres of used lube oil into a storage tank, to be shipped ashore at a later date, then refill with 40 litres of new oil, which would have been kept in another storage tank. We analyse the oil sample for various substances and keep the results for our records. The analyser machine is a touch screen setup and very simple to use.
When the port generator had its first service, following an overhaul, the oil analysis showed the following, in parts per million: Moly less than 2; Water less than 0.1; Oxides less than 2; Fuel less than 2; TBN 9.9; Nitrates less than 2; Soot 0.3. The oil viscosity was 12.2.
When this generator had run for 4723 hours and was due for an overhaul these were the results: Moly less than 2; Water less than 0.1; Oxides 4.8; Fuel less than 2; TBN 9.1; Nitrates 2.7; Soot 0.6. The oil viscosity was 13.3.
You can see, from those figures that, even after such high hours, the oil was not suffering from any contamination, or loss of viscosity, so did not need be changed. When I first started working with the Puradyn system I found this to be quite amazing.
In addition to analysing lubricants in the machinery that is using the Puradyn system, we also sample and test other systems such as, hydraulic system, CPP, gearbox, keel, furlers, bow thruster, windlass, cranes to name a few. The benefits are clear; we have a lot more knowledge about wear in all our systems on board and the condition of their lubricants.
The savings from having the Puradyn system fitted are threefold; time, cost and stoage space. With the generators running all day, every day, service time comes around about every 12 days, which equates to about 30 services each year. Without the Puradyn system that would mean 30 X 40 litre oil changes on each generator and there would be about four main engine 100 litre changes each year. Not having to change the oil clearly means a big direct cost saving, but there is also a big time saving. Not just the time needed to fill and drain a sump, we don’t need to fill a dirty oil tank and get it emptied ashore.
The cost of pumping oil ashore to a salvage company can, at times, be more expensive than taking it on board in the first place. We don’t need to have a large clean oil tank filled either. We don’t have such tanks, so there’s a big saving in space too.
There are also some less obvious advantages. Early detection of faults, picked up by the oil analysis, can save vast sums of money and time, not to mention the potential lost revenue if a generator should fail just before a charter.
Then there is the important fact that the cost to the environment is minimised, because we limit the amount of oil that we use and waste. We also limit the risks of pollution in case of an accident, by not having tanks of fresh and used oils in the engine room.
The majority of birds, oiled as a result of spillage from the beached MSC Napoli, were contaminated by light oil that leaked from storage tanks. If a Puradyn system had been used that oil would not have been on board.
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