Part 2: The $60,000 per Month Availability Incentive Why mechanical-availability guarantees, service-fee credits, and the economics of interrupted natural gas flow are creating new opportunities for Autonomous Fluid Intelligence™. By William Gillette | LogiLube, LLC When a $60,000 Monthly Incentive Is Suddenly at Risk Imagine a natural gas compression station in Colorado's Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin on a cold winter morning. A Caterpillar G3608 natural gas engine is driving

Part 1 of an Eight-Part Technical Series From the Gas Well to the Pipeline: Understanding Midstream Natural Gas, Industrial Compression Packages, and the Extraordinary Operating Life of These Machines By William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) The Invisible Machines Behind North America's Natural Gas Supply Imagine a winter morning at a natural gas compression station in western Canada. The temperature is well below freezing. Snow covers the surrounding mountains, and the first ligh

Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ On an ultra-class hydraulic excavator like the Liebherr R9800, hydraulic-fluid condition drives valve response, thermal stability and, ultimately, how many productive hours the machine can deliver. Two companion articles set up the argument this piece quantifies: “Why Varnish Becomes an EBITDA Problem” lays out why a fixed 1,000-hour hydraulic-oil drain is a weak proxy for oil condition and why draining the reservoir does not full

How SmartOil G3™ Can Close the Loop on Hydraulic Varnish ​ Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ Sense continuously. Sample when justified. Dose only when warranted. Verify the response. ​ A companion article, “Why Varnish Becomes an EBITDA Problem,” lays out the case for treating hydraulic-fluid condition as a production issue rather than a lubrication footnote on ultra-class mobile mining equipment: a fixed 1,000-hour drain interval is a weak proxy for oil condition

Hydraulic Varnish, Fixed Maintenance Intervals, and the Cost of Getting the Oil Change Wrong on Ultra-Class Mining Equipment​​​ Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ The business case for varnish control rarely begins with the hydraulic oil. It begins with the machine. ​ On ultra-class mobile mining equipment, hydraulic-fluid varnish stops being a lubrication footnote and becomes a production and EBITDA question. Using the Liebherr R9800 hydraulic excavator operating

Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ The business case for varnish control rarely begins with the hydraulic oil. It begins with the machine. ​ Introduction ​ In Part 3 of this Varnish Series, the discussion moves from the chemistry and mechanisms of varnish formation to the practical and economic application of varnish control on ultra-class mobile mining equipment. Using the Liebherr R9800 hydraulic excavator operating in the Pilbara iron-ore environment as the p

Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ Installing a fluid sensor is relatively straightforward. Determining what this data means and whether that data justifies adding treatment chemistry is considerably more challenging. ​ The oil in a hydraulic reservoir changes continuously. The oil temperature rises after startup and falls during idle periods. The viscosity changes with temperature and shear history. Additionally, water may enter through breathers, condensation, co

The Curious Similarity Between Arterial Plaque and Hydraulic Varnish ​ Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ An admittedly tongue-in-cheek addition to my hydraulic varnish series. ​ After spending far too much time thinking about hydraulic oil varnish and reflecting on my own experience with cardiovascular bypass surgery 15 years ago, I recently had an uncomfortable realization: ​ A hydraulic system may have more in common with the human cardiovascular system than mos

Could synchronized dual-laboratory oil sampling become the next standard for protecting mining-equipment warranties? Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ At 4,600 meters (15,100 feet) above sea level, a 400-ton haul truck operating at one of the worlds largest copper mines is much more than a piece of mobile equipment. It is a production asset whose reliability can influence thousands of tonnes of daily mine output. The current spot price for refined copper at US$6

Article by William Gillette (LogiLube, LLC) ​ A hydraulic or turbine-oil system does not need to suffer a dramatic failure to begin losing performance. Sometimes the first warning is a valve that responds slightly too slowly, an unexplained increase in oil temperature or a filter that does not last as long as it once did. ​ A paper machine can be running at full production when a hydraulic valve begins responding a fraction of a second too slowly. A gas turbine may be techni