Lube Oil Carts

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.