A Penny Pinched is Worth $1 Million Lost
Imagine you walk into the Dentist’s office, sit down in the chair and learn you have 5 cavities. You feel yourself sink in the chair at the thought of the dentist drill and the bill that is soon to follow.
It is in this same moment you replay the dentist’s advice offered on so many occasions: “All of this could have been avoided by daily flossing and brushing your teeth.”
Now imagine you are operating turbo machinery. It needs to be overhauled due to a bearing failure and at this same moment you replay this piece of advice: “The best way to deal with varnish is to never have to.”
At what point does the pain outweigh the decisions we make? How many cavities do you need before you embrace routine care of your teeth? How many hours of downtime do we need to experience before we embrace proactive maintenance?
Let’s look a little deeper at the advice “The best way to deal with varnish, is to never have to.” Using the example of a 7FA Turbine, the below table paints a great picture of what a penny pinched in proactive maintenance adds up to in the end.
| 7FA Turbine Lube Oil Lifecycle Costs | With SVR™ 1200 Install | Without SVR™ 1200 Install |
|---|---|---|
| Generating Capacity | 171 | 171 |
| Revenue/MW | $40 | $40 |
| Volume | 22,800 | 22,800 |
| Oil Price | $7.53 | $7.53 |
| Annual Oil Make Up | 5% | 5% |
| Turbine Life | 25 | 25 |
| Oil Life | 25 | 8 |
| # Oil Replacement Intervals | 1 | 3 |
| Cost of Install: SVR™ 1200 Lubricant Conditioning System | $30,000 | $0 |
| Annual Conditioning Consumables (ICB™ Filter Elements and High Capacity Particulate Filters) | $4,500 | $0 |
| Lost Production Hours/Year | 0 | 24 |
| One-time Flush Cost | $125,000 | $125,000 |
| Initial Fill | $171,684 | $171,684 |
| Make Up Oil | $214,605 | $214,605 |
| Total Oil Life Cycle Costs | $386,289 | $1,158,867 |
| Consumables | $142,500 | $0 |
| Flush | $0 | $250,000 |
| Total Turbine Lifecycle Oil Related Costs | $528,789 | $1,408,867 |
| Annual Production Losses | $0 | $164,160 |
| Turbine Lifecycle Production Losses | $0 | $4,104,000 |
| Total Turbine Lifecycle Costs | $528,789 | $5,512,867 |
| Cost Savings with SVR™ 1200 Install (with production losses) | $4,984,078 | |
| ROI | 3,498% |
Does this shift your mindset of investing in proactive lubricant maintenance over the lifecycle of your turbine? An ROI of 3,498% is tough to ignore.
If we know the biggest gains and returns are experienced later, then budgetary considerations today can save you exponential costs in the long run.
When it comes to regular turbine maintenance and asset lifecycle management, it is all about the long game. Don’t wait for the costs of varnish to impact production and profitability. Be proactive and embrace solutions that protect your investment.
Start today. Save tomorrow.
Here are some great additional resources:
Turbine Lubricant Varnish Removal: Studies using SVR®
