Situation

One of Australia’s leading waste management customers aimed to reduce operating costs through continuous improvement initiatives.

At one of their facilities, where eight gas engines generated ~8.8MW of electricity, the oil drain interval of the current gas engine oil had to be reduced to 500 hours due to declining gas quality. To maintain the current longer oil drain intervals and to optimise efficiency and realise potential cost savings the site trialled Mobil Pegasus™ 605 Ultra 40 in two of their gas engines. Mobil Pegasus 605 Ultra 40 is formulated primarily to lubricate modern medium-speed and high-speed four-cycle engines operating on landfill and biomass gas. Operations utilising this outstanding lubricant can realise extended oil life (up to 1,000 hours between drain intervals), improved control of wear, reduced engine deposits & varnish as well as optimised spark plug performance.

A three-month evaluation program at this customer site was conducted to assess equipment operation savings available versus the current gas engine oil used. The results were that the Mobil Pegasus 605 Ultra 40 achieved longer oil drain intervals of 18.6% on average and the engines required about 15% less oil top up during their operation.

Recommendations 

The Ampol Technical Solutions Team (TaPS) recommended continuing the use of Mobil Pegasus™ 605 Ultra 40 in both Generator Engines which were used for the initial evaluation. Additionally, they suggested extending the use of this lubricant to the remaining six generator engines to maximise cost reductions and efficiency gains across the entire fleet.

Value Delivered

• Cost Reduction: Transitioning to Mobil Pegasus™ 605 Ultra 40 for all generator engines has resulted in an annual saving of $140,189 by reducing the frequency of oil changes through achieving longer oil drain intervals, reducing oil top up and improving the efficiency of the engines.
• Safety Improvement: The extended lifespan of the lubricant decreased the number of oil changes required per engine, improved operational safety through 4 less oil changes per engine per annum, and allowed for an additional 132 hours of engine operation before maintenance was required.
• Environmental Impact: Reduced oil use by 11,592L p.a., supporting reduced waste oil objectives.
• Increased Productivity: Extended equipment life, minimised downtime and maintenance costs, and thereby boosted overall productivity.

Conclusion

Mobil Pegasus™ 605 Ultra 40 delivered significant operational and financial benefits, including reduced overall oil costs and improved productivity of the equipment. Extending its use across all generator engines at the site will help maximise these advantages.