Liquid Process Systems, Inc.

For those of us who appreciate seeing actual numbers to support the appearance of thermal fluid being cleaned up by filtration, attached are the actual lab numbers from the before and after hot oil filtration comparison samples from the previous post. This result was achieved after less than 6 weeks of side stream filtration. The particle count has reduced substantially. Viscosity, TAN and Insolubles will continue to improve going forward.

A rush order for a thermal fluid filtration system shipped on Thursday, delivered on Friday, installed on Sunday -- resulted in a PO for a second filter unit on Tuesday! That made our week.
We welcome photos from the field as it is beyond thrilling to see how quickly our hot oil filtration systems work to capture solids and that users need more filtration units for their multiple thermal fluid heater loops.
First photo shows the debris and solids captured in the filter elements. Carbon solids and hard metal fines will damage the process pumps in hot oil heating units. This photo gives unmistakable visual confirmation that quick system clean up with our hot oil filter systems will work to save process pumps, rotating parts, valves, injection molder heads, etc.
The second photo shows samples of thermal fluid before and after installing a thermal fluid filtration system from us on their thermal fluid heaters.
Fluid analysis is a helpful indicator to prove that fluid is in condition to benefit from filtration. We seldom have the opportunity to see the results comparing before and after installing one of our hot oil filtration units. Many thanks to our customers who take the time to send photos of their results after installing and using a filtration system from Liquid Process Systems. We are honored to be of service.

We all do it – waiting until something is broken to fix it. The same holds true with preventive maintenance (PM) at industrial facilities. Maintenance personnel often express frustration about spending another weekend at the facility fixing their hot oil pumps or cleaning out the coked up process lines or expansion tanks because build-ups of carbon solids have affected heat transfer efficiency and the operators cannot maintain temperatures required for their manufacturing processes.
Liquid Process Systems has been promoting PM and supplying our side stream thermal fluid filtration systems for over 26 years now and I estimate that about 50% of the calls we receive are for filtration systems to complement new process heating equipment. That means the other 50% of our inquiries come when there are problems at the plant, it is shut down or in urgent need of a filtration system. The current percentage is an improvement because when we started making our equipment, all of it went to problem applications.
Hot oil heaters are usually supplied with large perforated mesh in line (full flow) strainers that might capture particles in the 200 mesh (74 micron) size range. Thermal fluid analysis testing has shown us that coking and sludge particles are much less than 50 micron in size. Perforated basket strainers will not catch those very fine particles so the solids continue to multiply, collect and affect process heat transfer efficiency and velocity of fluid flow. It still comes as pleasant surprise to a number of maintenance personnel that we provide side stream hot oil filtration systems designed to operate continually, while their process is running, working to capture the very fine solids down to 10 and 5 micron and remove them from the fluid permanently. Filtration extends the useful life of the thermal fluid, prevents carbon solids from building up in low points and reduces wear on moving parts.
Here is a photo of Liquid Process Systems thermal fluid filtration skid package that will become part of a new hot oil heating process loop. This company chose the preventative maintenance option.

Welcoming this New Year comes with reflecting on the past year and we can say with certainty that 2017 was the year of custom equipment. Projects for filtering hot oil that came our way during last year were truly unique in both size and design challenges.

A previous blog featured a very large duplex thermal fluid filtration system with over-sized bypass line. That project was one to beat simply due to size of the manifolds with incredible amounts of pipe welding and overall footprint of the system. Then an order for another duplex system with more custom detail requirements came though. This unit is destined for rental service by a large fuel and lubricants supplier.

Next came a request to provide a small hot oil filtration system for an important research and development project for the petroleum industry. Here is a photo of the low flow filtration system rated for very high pressure and temperature with SRV, gauges and valves and not much room for more options.

The larger filtration systems all include davit assembly and hand wheel, however this past year included a custom request for adding a davit arm and hand wheel to a very small diameter filter housing. That unit proved so popular that we can continue to offer it as a viable option.

Designing and building these side stream heat transfer fluid systems is rewarding in and of itself. The best part about providing industrial equipment is the positive feedback from end users who report that the systems are performing fluid clean ups better than they expected and that the hot oil filtration systems are doing exactly what they are supposed to do: remove carbon solids and extend the useful life of the thermal fluids.

We continue to stock replacement filter elements and pump seal repair kits for the convenience of our clients and we always look forward to helping existing and new hot oil filtration users in 2018.