Lubrication Recommendation

(LUBRICANT) OIL DRUM STORAGE

Proper lubricant storage goes a long way in making that all important good impression with your customer
and ensuring that the lubricant provides maximum protection to his machinery. Studies suggest that
more than 80% of machine failure are lubricant related and the vast majority of these failures are due to
contamination in the form of moisture, free water and air inducted particulate debris, that is, dirt.
How do these contaminants enter sealed drums during storage?

All oil or tighthead drums have a crimp sealed lid through which there are one small and one large threaded
hole or bung. The drums are filled and drained through these holes. The holes can be tightly sealed with
threaded plugs that are fitted with gaskets. The plug gaskets are very effective at preventing leakage
of drums contents when it is stored on its side. However, drums breathe passed the plug gaskets.
The contents of a drum, including the air in its headspace, expand when heated. The headspace gases
(atmospheric air) bypass the plug gaskets to the outside. Contrary to this, when the drum contents cool
and contract, air is pulled (by vacuum or pressure differential) passed the plug gaskets and into the drum
contaminating the lubricant.
When the drum breathes passed the plug gasket and into the drum, the air has a certain humidity or
moisture content which can condense into its liquid state once in the drum. At this point the lubricant is
contaminated with water. This situation can be worsened if drums are stored outdoors and upright. Free
water will accumulate in the drum lid recess. When the drum contents cool and contract, water is drawn
into the drum in significant quantities. While the drums breathe they can draw micron sized solidsdirt from
the surrounding environment into the lubricant establishing a precursor to abrasive machine wear before
the lubricant is even installed on the machine.
How can you prevent this problem from ruining your lubricant inventory and
your customers machines?

Here are some steps:

1. Store your lubricants indoors or in a clean and covered designated area.
2. Keep your lubricant containers tightly sealed.
3. Store your lubricant containers on their sides with the bungs at 3 and 9 oclock.
If this is not permitted, store them upright with an intact (no holes) drum cover. Drum
covers as seen here effectively seal the top of upright stored drums from dirt, water,
snow and ice accumulation preventing product contamination. These are a low cost
solution to the lack of indoor or side storage.

4. Before opening or decanting from a drum, be sure that the lid is dry and clean.
5. Be sure that all transfer devices, funnels, hoses, connections, pumps, etc.
are completely clean. Dedicated or task specific use of theses devices is
preferred but not essential as long as cleaning is thorough before each use.
How can you be sure that the contents of a stored drum is suitable for use and
that it is free of dangerous contaminants?

By sampling it and sending it to the Bel-Ray Technical Services Laboratory.

Bel-Ray Company, Inc. P.O. Box 526 Farmingdale, NJ 07727 USA Tel +1 (732) 938 2421 Fax +1 (732) 938 4232 www.belray.com

Lubrication Recommendation

Drum Sampling for Accurate

Product Condition Measurements
Sampling for accurate drum content condition determination is not difficult as long as the proper equipment is
available and the proper procedures are followed. With this in mind, what is the most important consideration
when sampling more than one drum?
Answer: Contamination from sample to sample due to a poorly cleaned sampling device. Such contamination
can render a day long sampling project worthless with zero data relevance. When sampling a drum for
content condition, two approaches are available. A multi-layer system retrieves samples from several levels
within a drum individually, for example, from the top third, middle third, bottom third and extreme bottom of
the drum.
The best device for taking such samples is the bacon bomb sampler. The bacon bomb
sampler is designed for the collection of material from various levels within a storage tank.
It consists of a cylindrical body, usually made of chromeplated brass and bronze with an
internal tapered plunger that acts as a valve to admit the sample. A line attached to the top
of the plunger opens and closes the valve. A line is attached to the removable top cover,
which often has a locking mechanism to keep the plunger closed after
sampling.
The bacon bomb procedure is simple to follow:
1. Remove the cover from the sample bottle.
2. Attach the cover line and the plunger line to the sampler.
3. Measure and then mark the line for the desired depth.
4. Gradually lower the sampler by thesample line until the desired level is reached.
5. When the desired level is reached, pull up on the plunger line and allow the sampler to fill. Release the
plunger line to seal off the sampler.
6. Retrieve the sampler by the cover line being careful not to pull on the plunger line. That would accidentally
open the bottom valve and release the sample.
7. Rinse or wipe off the exterior of the sampler while removing it from the drum.
8. Position the sampler over the sample bottle and release its contents by pulling on the plunger line.
9. Cap the sample bottle tightly and label it with as much pertinent information as possible. The minimum
information should be product name and grade, item number and full batch date.
10. Disassemble the device, thoroughly clean it and reassemble it for the next sample.
Another, simpler method of sampling the contents of a drum is by composite sampler. In this method a spot
sample of every layer in the drum is taken in one sample. The device used is a glass thief. Glass thieves
are simply glass tubes typically 6 mm to 16 mm (0.25-0.5) internal diameter (ID) and 48 inches long. Rigid
tubes made of oil resistant plastic will also work well.

Bel-Ray Company, Inc. P.O. Box 526 Farmingdale, NJ 07727 USA Tel +1 (732) 938 2421 Fax +1 (732) 938 4232 www.belray.com

Lubrication Resource

The glass thief procedure is simple to follow:

1. Remove the cover from the sample bottle.
2. Slowly insert the glass thief almost to the bottom of the drum. About 1 off the bottom will yield a
representative sample.
3. Allow the material in the drum to reach equilibrium with the level in the tube.
4. Cap the top of the tube with a stopper or thumb.
5. Carefully remove the stoppered tube from the drum, wiping the outside of the tube as it is drawn out of
the drum with a rag, and insert the uncapped end in the sample bottle.
6. Release the stopper or thumb and allow the glass thief to drain into the sample bottle. Repeat this
process until the sample bottle is approximately 3/4 full.
7. Dispose of the thief or thoroughly clean it for reuse.
8. Cap the sample bottle tightly and label it with as much pertinent information as possible. The minimum
information should be product name and grade, item number and full batch date or lot number.
All samples should be packaged in a suitable containers including:
1. Samples should be sealed in ziplock bags, 1 or 2 samples per bag.
2. All ziplocked samples should be packed into a suitable box for shipment.
3. Seal and label the box for shipment to:
Bel-Ray Company Incorporated
Prolube Administrator
1201 Bowman Avenue
Wall Township, NJ 07719

Orders for sample bottles and labels can be placed with the
Bel-Ray Customer Service Department at 1-732-938-2421.

Bel-Ray Company, Inc. P.O. Box 526 Farmingdale, NJ 07727 USA Tel +1 (732) 938 2421 Fax +1 (732) 938 4232 www.belray.com