Lube Oil Cart
Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Milwaukee, WI
The lube oil cart (LOC) delivers motor oil at precisely controlled pressure, flow, and temperature conditions. Oil temperature is raised by circulating oil from the cart-mounted reservoir through a circulation heater and back to the reservoir. Cooling of the oil is achieved by circulating oil from the reservoir through one passage of a flat plate heat exchanger. Facility cooling water is circulated through the other heat exchanger passage to remove heat from the oil. A modulating valve downstream of the circulation heater and heat exchanger controls the mixing of oil from the circulation heater and heat exchanger to achieve intermediate temperatures. A second modulating controls oil pressure and flow by directing oil to the LOC engine supply connection or diverting the oil back to the reservoir. A double, spur gear pump mounted to an electric motor pumps oil through the circulation and engine supply oil circuits. The motor/pump unit is mounted on top of the reservoir.
A programmable logic controller configured with the appropriate input/output (I/O) cards controls and monitors operation of the LOC. The operator uses a touch screen to interface with the programmable logic controller (PLC) that controls the operation of the LOC. The touch screen is housed in a portable enclosure and is connected to the cart via an electrical interface cable. The portability of the enclosure allows the lube oil cart to be controlled locally or from a remote test operations area.
The LOC provides oil over a wide range of conditions. Oil temperature can be heated to 250 °F using the circulation heater and cooled down to temperatures near that of the facility cooling water supply using the water/oil heat exchanger. Oil flow range limits are 0.1 to 16.0 gpm. Oil pressure range limits are 2.0 to 120.0 psig.
